What is Placenta Encapsulation?
- Placenta Encapsulation is a form of placentophagia, the act of consuming placenta postpartum for various reasons and benefits. The number of women partaking in this practice increases every day.
- The placenta is steamed and dehydrated shortly following the birth, ground into powder, and placed into capsules (resulting in 100-150, depending on the placenta size) for you to consume with ease, no different than swallowing a vitamin or herbal supplement. The whole process will have your capsules ready within 48 hours.
- Medically, although it is typically thrown out in our country after birth, the placenta is considered a facilitator organ, used to deliver nutrients to the baby and dispose of waste back through the mother's blood supply.
- Almost all mammals consume their placentas- mammals from every category whether herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores, prey animals or not.
- Throughout history, from ancient Sumeria to Asia, Oceana, Aboriginal Australia, Medieval Europe, India, and Africa, the placenta has been revered as sacred which has led to honoured culture practices, various art form depictions, planted under fruit trees and rose bushes, ceremonially buried, and the placenta being the subject of many spiritual works, creation stories, and folklore. Placenta has also been used in Chinese and Vietnamese medicine for over a thousand years.
- Please go to the contact page or call me at 541 554-5879 or email [email protected]. All questions and waiver/liability are to protect you and your health, my other clients, and myself. The more information I receive, the better I can assist you and identify any potential concerns or contraindications that might prevent you from being unable to encapsulate.
- The capsules are clear, size 00, and are 100% vegetarian. They do not include any starch, wheat, preservatives, or GMO materials, and there are no preservatives added during the encapsulation process.
- Capsules are taken as soon as possible following the birth. How long they will last will depends on the number of capsules rendered from the placenta as well as dosage which is determined and assessed on an individual basis. There is no set time frame, and each woman is empowered to listen to the needs of her own body and can stop taking them at any time should she no longer feel a need for them. Generally, they can last anywhere from four to seven weeks.
- This is of course entirely up to you and your value system, however the unique factor of the placenta is that it's the only "meat" which comes from birth and life as opposed to the death of a sentient being. The organ is a product of conception that develops separately out of the baby's cells and implants itself into the mother's uterine wall to transfer nutrients, take over hormone production, and eliminate waste. While it joins two individuals together to sustain the newly created life, it is not a body part that would make placenta consumption an act of cannibalism that would turn a vegetarian into an omnivore.
- I accept cash, check or credit card.
- A $50 non-refundable deposit is due upon the submission of the intake form and the remaining balance is due when you receive your capsules.
- As long as the placenta was frozen after a few days of being in the fridge and has not spoiled in any way, it is still possible to encapsulate. I would recommend though if it has been in the freezer for longer than six months to have a large tincture created instead of encapsulation as the placenta will have lost a lot of its potency.
- I prepare the placenta in my own home or yours, depending on my availability and your preference.
- Yes, your placenta is still safe for your own consumption. Your STD status is strictly confidential. If STD positive, I will encapsulate in your own home using your own equipment rather than mine in addition to the strict sanitation criteria I already follow.
- Each client is to inform their care providers (OB, midwife, doula, etc) prior to their estimated due date that they wish to be given the placenta after birthing it rather than it being discarded. A good idea is to include this note in the birth plan.
- The client's job is to ensure the placenta is bagged and transferred on ice to a small cooler and then refrigerated as soon as possible until we begin the encapsulation process. The task of collecting the placenta and ensuring it gets to a safe place and refrigerated can be assigned to a partner, doula, or family member.
- I prefer to receive notification at the start of labor and then once the baby has been born so that I am ready and on call to start the encapsulation process as soon as possible.
- If you give birth in a hospital and they want to take your placenta to pathology for testing, please ask if they can take a small piece and leave the rest with you. If your whole placenta is sent to pathology, there is no guarantee it will come back to you having been stored at the proper temperature for food consumption or having not come in contact with chemicals directly or through cross contamination. There may be instances where anomalies or abnormalities require the hospital to take the entire placenta, and it will not be made available to you.
- Certain conditions during pregnancy such as placenta previa, abruption, or accreta can factor into how much placenta you will actually end up with, resulting in a lesser amount of capsules when all is said and done or not getting your placenta back from the hospital at all such as in a case where a D&C is administered to remove the placenta.
- If a uterine or amniotic infection (such as chorioamnionitis) presents itself during labor, it is not safe to re-introduce the infection by consuming the placenta.
- If the placenta has come into contact with meconium (baby's first bowel movement), it may be heavily stained. Meconium is nearly sterile, and the placenta can be thoroughly washed as well as separated from the amniotic sac and remaining areas affected by meconium staining should you still wish to have it prepared for encapsulation.
- A placenta from a c-section or from a mother who had an epidural, pitocin, other drugs, or antibiotics is still perfectly safe to encapsulate. Any residual drugs left in the placenta are minimal, as drugs pass through the placenta rapidly and are rendered unstable after processing anyway. The only exception to this is magnesium sulfate which is used for constipation during pregnancy, to treat eclampsia, or to halt pre-term labour. Many hospitals will not release a placenta if magnesium sulfate was administered the day of or during the birth, as there is some controversy in obstetrics questioning if this is safe to ingest or not. In most cases, it is safe, however this depends on a few different factors such as the reason why it was given, how much was given, and the mother's hydration levels. Due to this, the placenta may not be available for release.
- I dehydrate the placenta at 120F. I use an actual dehydrator and not the oven in order to control the temperature.
- According to Dr. Robert A. Bradley in his book Husband Coached Childbirth, the FDA classifies the placenta as a "bloody sieve". It is not a barrier (as has been popular thought in the past) which filters and prevents contaminants from reaching the fetus. Toxins, whether environmental, food, or medical/drug are susceptible to crossing the placenta and affecting the growth and development of the fetus rather than the placenta storing them. Remaining waste products are returned and eliminated back out via the mother's blood supply which does not mix with that of the fetus.
- Out of 87 environmental chemicals tested, far greater amounts of toxins were found in the mother and baby than in the placenta or cord blood (source). Consuming a placenta with these low levels of toxins would be no more harmful than continuing to live, breathe, and eat as normal in this world.
- The functions of the placenta, according to many biology and midwifery textbooks, never mention storage of toxins as being one of the many detailed purposes of the placenta. It would be a medical waste hazard by the time of nine months if this were so. It's a facilitator organ that works as an exchange system between mother and baby rather than acting like an air filter.
- Placentophagia (consuming placenta) never provides a guarantee and cannot be used to prevent or treat any conditions as the FDA currently has no regulation on the practice. Those who have this service provided for them take the capsules based on their own research and beliefs and understand the potential of the placenta may not be the same for everyone. The only risks are similar to that of dining out at a restaurant and having someone else prepare food for you. My position is to act as a personal chef in preparing your placenta for your chosen consumption.
- Considering the placenta has been found to contain hormones and nutrients, it is possible it will have an effect on the body, either positive or negative. Each woman may be affected differently, and there are no specific studies to make claims regarding benefits or side effects. Common experiences are mostly positive, however every body is different and may react in the way of headaches from excess iron, nausea, too much milk supply, or emotions being off balance. Ensure you are drinking lots of water and taking the capsules with food as instructed. Dosage can always be adjusted, and capsules can always be discontinued in the event of undesired effects. The intention of consuming the placenta via capsule form is to support the body during its brief transition from pregnancy hormones to postpartum ones. Not everyone needs their placenta to have a balanced postpartum and feel well, and if you don't need it, your body has an innate way of letting you know.
- I wear non-latex gloves from start to finish.