In addition to having a home birth, I have decided early on if I ever got pregnant again I would encapsulate my placenta. I don't exactly remember how I came upon this idea, but most likely from reading one of my favorite natural birth/parenting blogs. All I knew was that it made sense & I wanted to discover the amazing powers of the placenta for myself.
The post-partum emotional roller coaster is the hardest part of birth recovery for me. I can cry at the "drop of a hat." I can go from feeling deliriously happy to feeling absolutely miserable in a matter of a few hours. My negative attitude can really drive my husband up the wall & make the newborn adjustment period even more difficult for the whole family. Although the post-partum hormonal shifts have been well documented in scientific literature & the resulting mood fluctuations are expected, I sure would not miss an opportunity to prevent or at least lessen them. Of course, after everything I've been through the least my husband can do is to put up with a few miserable weeks & be as patient as he can, but why suffer needlessly when nature's pefect cure is so readily available?
My placenta encapsulated & photographed by Kat Barron (Fagerlie) - my midwife apprentice extraordinaire
What exactly is placenta encapsulation & why would anyone do this? Placenta encapsulation is the process of preparing your baby's placenta (in a capsule form) in order to preserve your own natural hormones & reintroduce them into your system to ease pospartum hormonal fluctuations. Placenta is believed to balance system via a perfect for you hormone combination, replenish depleted iron, give you more energy, lessen postpartum bleeding, increase milk production & help to have a happier postpartum period.
The known ingredients that give the placenta its healing properties include:
- gonadotropin (the precursor to estrogen, progesterone & testosterone)
- prolactin (promotes lactation)
- oxytocin (facilitates bonding of a mother & infant)
- thyroid stimulating hormone (increases energy & helps to recover from stress)
- cortisone (helps to adapt to stress & increase energy)
- interferon (stimulates the immune system)
- prostaglandins (decrease inflammation)
- hemoglobin (reduces anemia)
- urokinase inhibiting factor & factor XIII (stop bleeding & enhance wound healing)
- gammaglobulin (boosts the immune system)
If a woman wants to use the placenta for her postpartum recovery, special consideration must be given to placenta after the birth. Once it's born, the placenta should be handled as though it were food. It should not be left sitting out on the floor or on chux pad, but go into a food-grade container & be refrigerated immediately. The preparation of the placenta should begin within the first 24 hours after birth.
Although the placenta is consumed raw by some women, the placenta encapsulation process (where the placenta is completely dried, ground & placed into capsules) has an advantage of a woman being able to benefit from it for weeks instead of just a few postpartum days. Also, the capsules can be frozen & taken beyond postpartum period in times of stressful transition (e.g., going back to work).
Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since Jacob was born & I am happy to report I haven't experienced a single day of the "baby blues." I feel like myself & was able to adjust to the demanding newborn period with ease. I haven't cried, lost my temper, been overwhelmed or felt depressed. I am so grateful & only wish I've known about placenta encapsulation sooner!
Additional Resources:
1) Placenta Benefits
2) The Amazing Placenta by Sarah Buckley, MD
3) Placentophagy by Mary Field, RGN, SCM from Birthrites (a personal account)
4) IPEN (Independent Placenta Encapsulation Network)
5) Placenta Bakery (the placenta encapsulation specialists)
6) Google Maps List of Independent Placenta Service Providers
7) Birth Wise Holistic Doula Services International Directory
8) Placenta: The Gift of Life book by Cornelia Enning
9) MoonDragon's Parenting Page (placenta use suggestions, rituals & recipes)
10) Home video of the placenta encapsulation process
11) Placenta encapsulation instructions with pictures
12) CTV's Live at 5 Power of Placenta news video presentation
13) Why Placenta Encapsulation? YouTube video by Spirited Doula Birth Services
14) Step-by-step Photographic Guide To Raw Placenta Encapsulation by MamaBirth (using my placenta photos!)
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