By Paula Rath
The Honolulu Advertiser

When Barbra An Pleadwell and husband Jayson Harper sit down to tell their daughter, Bella Grace, about where she came from, they will have a helpful prop: a casting of Mom's pregnant belly with Dad's hands encircling it.

As Barbra entered her ninth month of pregnancy, she decided to commemorate the time, and the tummy, by getting a belly cast.

Erica McMillan, a doula (someone who helps women during delivery), and Dawn Nobles of Kaimuki, Hawaii, a doula and midwife, own a company called Origin Birth Creations that specializes in belly-casting.

"It's a celebration of the shape of a pregnant belly," explains McMillan as she spreads out the drop cloth on the Harpers' kitchen floor and began filling a bucket with water. "We worship our pregnant mommies and want them to feel beautiful about being pregnant."

As gauze was mixed with plaster of Paris, and the slithery stuff was applied to Pleadwell's tummy and Harper's hands, the mother-to-be said, "This is kind of tribal and ceremonial."

The only materials needed for a belly cast are gauze, plaster of Paris, water and lots of petroleum jelly to slather over the skin, to prevent painful hair pulls and an after-the-fact belly-waxing effect. It takes about 20 minutes for the cast to harden.

The plaster residues shower right off. The petroleum jelly, however, may require a few more showers before it disappears.

Throughout the casting, conversation turned to cravings, heartburn, body temperatures, breast-feeding, babies kicking and the need for frequent hot baths.

To create a finished work of art, the belly casts can be painted, collaged or a mosaic can be added.

Tori Life Goto's belly cast is a different shape: It sports a flat tummy.

She uses the cast to commemorate the gestation of her adopted Cambodian daughter, Sela Soriya.

"Adoption is mysterious for kids when they grow up, and I'm trying to demystify the process, to show her that she didn't just arrive one day," Goto explains. "We did all the waiting and expecting that natural parents do."

Goto turned her belly cast into a piece of art by collaging adoption papers, passport photos and airplane tickets. The art piece will help her explain when Sela Soriya asks, "Mommy, where did I come from?"

When it comes to a belly cast, the bigger the better. It's ideal to have the cast made during the ninth month (yes, Nobles says, they've missed a few when moms delivered early), so the best time to make an appointment is six weeks before the due date.

Nobles and McMillan charge $250 for a basic belly cast and there's an additional charge if Dad's hands are included.

If the parents are not artistically inclined, McMillan, herself an artist, can turn the cast into an art piece with or without the couple's direction.

Several Internet sites offer do-it-yourself belly casting kits in various prices.