Placenta Smoothies

[littlebb]

I was highly considering consuming part of my placenta after birth and after reading some threads on this board and talking to my midwife, I've decided to definitely go forward with it. I'm not really interested in encapsulating it - I'd rather make smoothies right after birth and for a week or so after. What remains will be planted with a tree we plant in honor of our deceased fathers.

I've found a lot of mention of smoothies and tons of information on encapsulating, but I can't find any actual 'recipes' or instructions on how to make placenta smoothies.

Anyone have any suggestions or resources? My MW said she knows something similar to a Bloody Mary (made with tomato juice or BM mix) right after the birth is popular - it masks the taste and the extra vitamins and minerals from the tomato juice is good. I'd also like some berry-based smoothies for the rest of the week. I'm assuming you could just use a regular smoothie recipe and add placenta, but I have no idea how much or how little placenta to throw in.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Limabean1975]

I'm planning to do a basic berry smoothie - with lots of strawberries for colour & taste. Maybe strawberry, banana, some lime juice, and some honey...
I had not heard the Bloody Mary idea - I like that!!

I'm interested to see if anyone else posts with tips.

[littlebb]

Originally Posted by Limabean1975

I'm planning to do a basic berry smoothie - with lots of strawberries for colour & taste. Maybe strawberry, banana, some lime juice, and some honey...
I had not heard the Bloody Mary idea - I like that!!

I'm interested to see if anyone else posts with tips.

Yeah, that pretty much sounds like the approach I'm going to take, I just don't know how much placenta to throw in. Some strawberries, raspberries and blackberries would be really good since they're my favorite. I thought the bloody mary idea was great since I love drinking Zing Zang BM mix by itself anyway. And it's gotta be good for disguising the placenta.

[peainthepod]

DH made me a placenta smoothie with frozen berries and pineapple right after the birth. He put a chunk of tissue about the size of his thumb in the mix. It didn't taste like anything but fruit and was pretty yummy, but I had trouble slugging back such a sugary drink right after giving birth. The bloody mary idea is intriguing...

Really though, I think next time I'll just put a piece under my tongue or swallow it like a pill. It doesn't taste awful...just a little bloody, like salty rust. :

[GoGoGirl]

My doula made me a placenta smoothie right after labor. I considered the berry smoothie (usually my favorite kind) but ended up going with the Bloody Mary one.

I think the recipe was something like: big hunk of placenta, v8, and 1/2 cup shredded carrot. (I'm the only person I know with a "placenta" section in my cookbook binder ) The v8 totally masked the taste. It tasted like Chef Boyardee! And the carrot was a smart addition, because it masked any...texture (ugh).

I should say for the record that I am a super squeamish vegan, but really, the smoothie wasn't bad at all! I chalk that up to the incredible birthing high!

[runes]

Berry smoothies definitely masked the taste, I couldn't tell that there was placenta in my smoothie. Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries along with a chunk of placenta about one inch square, blended with ice, almond milk and a bit of agave nectar to sweeten.

[Belle]

Originally Posted by runes

Berry smoothies definitely masked the taste, I couldn't tell that there was placenta in my smoothie. Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries along with a chunk of placenta about one inch square, blended with ice, almond milk and a bit of agave nectar to sweeten.

: Sounds good. Wish that I'd done that instead of encapsulating mine.

[Red Sonja]

Berries are the way to go! Oh, and make sure to blend it up very thoroughly. That way you don't get a chunk of strawberry in your mouth and have to wonder if it's a piece of berry or a piece of placenta.

[cristeen]

I was advised by a doula friend to have on hand in the case of a PPH - a can of zesty tomato juice and a Magic Bullet. To tear off a small piece of the placenta, add the juice and whir it up. That the zesty juice adds some extra masking to the flavor.

My main problem is that I can make myself gag just mentally - I don't have to taste it... just knowing it's in there is liable to do it. Hopefully I can avoid PPH and just have it encapsulated.

[littlebb]

I sure appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions. Fortunately I'm not squeamish so I don't think it's going to be a problem at all. Above all, I was just curious as to how much placenta to include. DH on one hand is not surprised that this seems totally normal and natural to me, yet he's a little freaked out that I'm not more squeamish about it : ) There's a brand of bloody mary mix called "Zing Zang" that is my favorite - more salty, less sweet and a good mix of spices, so that ought to do it. I would really like a berry smoothie, too, but sometimes sugar is a bit much for me, so I guess it'll just depend on my mood. Good point about blending it well to make sure you're not questioning what's going down! Maybe it should hit the food processor first?

[witchypants]

I'm lovin' this thread! I've been looking into different ways of consuming the placenta after birth. Does anyone happen to know if for some reason you're transfered to a hospital for birth will they let you keep the placenta? We're planning a home birth when the time comes, but I was just curious...

[littlebb]

Originally Posted by witchypants

I'm lovin' this thread! I've been looking into different ways of consuming the placenta after birth. Does anyone happen to know if for some reason you're transfered to a hospital for birth will they let you keep the placenta? We're planning a home birth when the time comes, but I was just curious...

I imagine it probably depends on the hospitals policy, but I was kind of wondering the same thing. I know on older threads elsewhere I think I saw where some women were able to keep their placenta while other hospitals wouldn't allow it for 'hazardous' reasons. Hopefully some will respond to that because I'd like to know as well. I imagine it's not a common hospital issue - even my HB midwife said very rarely do her clients request to keep the placenta. I was kind of surprised.

[Limabean1975]

Quick update - my baby was born Sunday morning. I've been having placenta smoothies since then, mainly berry ones with berries, juice, other fruit like banana & orange. DH put a ton of vanilla in the first batch but it proved to be unecessary. Could not taste a thing and he's been putting alot of placenta in each blenderful.- The first batch had a hamburger patty (well, small, mcdonald's sized) size chunk plus a bunch of blood...did not taste ANYTHIGN in that vanilla berry smoothie. It's all finished now except some chunks he could not separate from the membrance. Considering trying to blend that, not sure how the membrane would fare in the blender.

I had it all so fast because I figured that's closest to nature - spreading it over a few months is not what would happen in nature.

And yeah... I feel GREAT. Everything is great. Millions of times better than my first post partum experience. There are many other factors that could be contributing to that, but it certainly could be because of the placenta!

[littlebb]

Originally Posted by Limabean1975

Quick update - my baby was born Sunday morning. I've been having placenta smoothies since then, mainly berry ones with berries, juice, other fruit like banana & orange. DH put a ton of vanilla in the first batch but it proved to be unecessary. Could not taste a thing and he's been putting alot of placenta in each blenderful.- The first batch had a hamburger patty (well, small, mcdonald's sized) size chunk plus a bunch of blood...did not taste ANYTHIGN in that vanilla berry smoothie. It's all finished now except some chunks he could not separate from the membrance. Considering trying to blend that, not sure how the membrane would fare in the blender.

I had it all so fast because I figured that's closest to nature - spreading it over a few months is not what would happen in nature.

And yeah... I feel GREAT. Everything is great. Millions of times better than my first post partum experience. There are many other factors that could be contributing to that, but it certainly could be because of the placenta!

First, CONGRATULATIONS on your birth. How exciting! And it's great to hear you're feeling wonderful. I appreciate you taking the time to come on here and give an update and to give your personal experience. I am going to do the same thing you described here. I am just going to put away what little bit of placenta we want to bury with our tree in honor of our deceased fathers and consume the rest rather quickly. I figure that we probably need the nutrients and vitamins more right away than we would down the road, so that's a great suggestion. Thanks again for letting us know, and congratulations!

[Limabean1975]

Originally Posted by littlebb

First, CONGRATULATIONS on your birth. How exciting! And it's great to hear you're feeling wonderful. I appreciate you taking the time to come on here and give an update and to give your personal experience. I am going to do the same thing you described here. I am just going to put away what little bit of placenta we want to bury with our tree in honor of our deceased fathers and consume the rest rather quickly. I figure that we probably need the nutrients and vitamins more right away than we would down the road, so that's a great suggestion. Thanks again for letting us know, and congratulations!

just a suggestion, but if you want to consume as much as possible, you could bury the membrane and cord with just whatever tissue cannot easily come off the membrane.

nak

[littlebb]

Originally Posted by Limabean1975

just a suggestion, but if you want to consume as much as possible, you could bury the membrane and cord with just whatever tissue cannot easily come off the membrane.

nak

Thank you so much for the suggestion. I feel like I'm kind of playing it by ear here since I've never seen a placenta live and in person. So all these little suggestions like this reallllly help!

What is the texture of a placenta like? Do you use a knife to cut stuff away or does it just tear off? I'm terribly curious now that this thread has gone so well : ) I'm assuming it's kind of like muscle or tissue of meat where I'll know what will blend easily and what won't.

[Limabean1975]

I'll have to ask DH to describe it - I saw it (and saw my son's too), but he did the cutting so he'll have more to say about it.

[littlebb]

Originally Posted by Limabean1975

I'll have to ask DH to describe it - I saw it (and saw my son's too), but he did the cutting so he'll have more to say about it.

Thank you - I really appreciate it. DH hasn't been squeamish about anything so far, so I hope he won't be squeamish about handling placenta smoothies, either!