Newborn photography is always equal parts adorable and heartwarming. Emma Jean Nolan, a midwife and photographer from Australia, took it to a whole new level of newborn beauty with this photo of a baby with the umbilical cord still attached and spelling out the word “love.” Has your heart exploded yet? (It's OK if you're a little grossed out, too.) This sweet baby and his parents are Maori. The Maori people have a cultural tradition of burying the placenta and umbilical cord after the birth of a baby, to create a connection between the land and the new child. Such a beautiful philosophy, right?

In Western medicine, once a baby is born, the umbilical cord and placenta are most commonly regarded as just things to be clamped off and discarded. Many women don’t even get to see their placentas, which kind of blows my mind. I mean, we’re talking about an entirely new organ, grown by your body, just to nourish the baby inside of you. I happen to be of the belief that this is part two of the miracle of life; Both times I gave birth, I was pretty excited to see this other thing I had grown inside of me.

What I love about this photograph is seeing a placenta and umbilical cord that have been cleaned up (yes, yes, also the baby is cute as pie). Taking away the blood and goo that we associate with the initial afterbirth and leaving these incredible parts of a mother’s body for us to see, in all their glory. We grew all of these things, mamas! That is an incredible thing.

Of course, one of my placentas is currently sitting in a container in my deep freezer. But maybe one day I’ll bury it.