placenta encapsulation! who's doing it, who's done it!?

[starbyfar7]

ok ladies!

so i was talking to my midwife at our last appt and asking about postpartum depression because my emotions have been all over the place during this pregnancy and im alittle worried that it may carry over after baby arrives. the first thing my midwife suggested was that i consider eating the placenta

after i picked my jaw up off the floor and consoled my dp who was basically doing everything he could to control his gag reflex, we talked more about the benefits and i kinda came around to the idea. now there's no way im eating it in a stew or in some sort of pot roast (am i still a vegetarian if i eat my own placenta??).. but i could totally pop a few a day in pill form.. especially if it'll be a sure fire way to keep the baby blues away.

what are the other benefits?

i found a few ladies in my area that will prepare the capsules for me for a hefty fee... but better them than me!

anyone else thinking of doing it? or did it?? weigh in and tell me it was the best thing you ever did. EVER.

[MamaMonica]

moved to Birth and Beyond

[TrishWSU]

I've done this after my previous two births and I plan to do it after every birth now! It really was amazing the difference it made during my PP period. I was very level emotionally-no major mood swings like I experienced after my first. Plus my milk came in by day 3 and my lochia only lasted about 10 days.

A few hours after birth I made a placenta smoothie-washed placenta (to get out the blood), then blended it up with yogurt and frozen strawberries. After the first day I encapsulated the rest.

I know there have been threads simliar to this in the past...you can try doing a search.

[ComfyCozy]

I learned about encapsulation right here in the PPD forum. I went through a long thread entitled something like "eating your placenta to prevent ppd?" It had at least 15 pages if not more. The best information was in the first few pages.

I encapsulated my own after my sixth baby in 2007. I started taking the caps 24 hours after she was born, and never even got the third day blues. I physically felt great, and did very well emotionally. Then I started offering the service locally. I encapsulated after my seventh, and I did find the caps to be helpful, but I still ended up struggling a bit with my mood after I ran out. Physically, however, I still got a great boost from the caps. They are fantastic at promoting good postpartum healing.

If you go to http://www.placentabakery.com you can find a great list of the benefits of consuming your placenta in caps. It's right there on the front page. You can also find someone who is local to you who can do it. I'm not sure what constitutes a "hefty" fee to you, but the PBi certified encapsulators tend to run a bit more than the independent encapsulators.

I couldn't recommend it enough...and am very much looking forward to using my placenta after my eighth baby is born in April. :-) I'm thinking of trying a tincture, smoothies, and ointments this time, in addition to caps. Maybe that can make my small placentas go further!

[paxye]

I did it... I was amazed at the results. I had so much energy after taking them... I still have some left and take them when I need a little pick-me-up...

I made my own and it was really easy... (even the day after I had given birth)

I documented the process here (warning pic of a placenta )

[Mosaic]

I did it! I had horrible PPD with my first DD and was desperate to try anything the second time around. I thought about doing it ourselves, but after seeing what was involved, decided I really didn't want to deal with that along with a new baby and a big sister. I found (by recommendation here in my tribal forum) a local person who would do it for $150. She was wonderful... we played phone tag a bit and I talked her here about 4 hours before DD was born and she still agreed to help me out!

She told me how many to take in the beginning... I think it was 2 three times a day for a few days, then 2 twice a day for a week, or something like that. After that I took one per day, and my DD is 6.5 months and I'm almost out! I think I had 187 capsules.

Did it help? I think so, but it's a little hard to say with certainty. The pregnancy and birth were totally different than the first time around, so I think that impacted the post-partum period for sure. Plus I'm still on a very low dose of sertraline (which I started after DD1 was born, about 3 years ago), so I'm sure that's playing a role.

At the same time, DD2 was a far more challenging baby with health and feeding issues, so the babymoon was very stressful yet I handled it all with no trouble at all. The transition back to work was also hard, but again, much better than before. So I have to confess, I'm a believer! I will definitely be doing this again if we have any more babies.

PS: I read somewhere eating placenta doesn't contradict most vegetarian priciples, since nothing was raised or killed to produce it.

[Miims]

I encapsulated my placenta because I had previous experience with mild depression. I had a homebirth and my husband did it since I was stuck in bed with a tear. I took the pills for about a week and felt good emotionally and then I decided to stop to see how I would be. I had no change in my mood after stopping the pills so I didn't take any more. I thought for sure that I of all people would need what the placenta offers, but did not. The rest of them are still in the back of my fridge since I can't bring myself to throw them out. I may try them again once my cycle/PMS returns. It was my first birth and I was glad to have them just in case, but I probably won't do it in future births. I would recommend doing it (or paying someone else to) for the first birth just to see how things go. I talked to my midwife about my suprise at NOT having PPD, since I thought I was a prime candidate, and she said she was not suprised at all since I was so happy about being pregnant and had good support for after the birth. Good support goes a long way at that time, though I'm sure some women still experience PPD in that situation. Happy birth!

[lyterae]

Subbing! I had PPD with my first and I am planning on encapsulating my placenta this time around in effort to make it through without PPD this time.

[mmaramba]

I've already decided I'll probably do it even though I've yet to see any studies whatsoever. As far as I have been able to determine, it can't hurt me, so even if I can get some placebo effect, that's fine with me. I have a history of mood issues, so what the heck.

BTW, I believe the consensus among vegetarian moms is that no animal gave its life (or part of itself without consent), so yes, you can still eat it as a vegetarian.

[broodymama]

I had wicked PPD after DD1 was born and had my placentas encapsulated after the births of DD2 and DS2. No PPD those times and I recovered much quicker.

[starbyfar7]

so glad to hear so many women have done this with success! i'm uber excited about it!

yeah.. upwards of $100 to make my placenta into a pill is alot of money and someone quoted me $150. I thought that it was pretty steep seeing as how im the one providing most of the material.. but i guess its worth it because i certainly couldn't imagine doing it myself. kudos to you awesome mamas with strong stomachs braving through it!

[Smokering]

PS: I read somewhere eating placenta doesn't contradict most vegetarian priciples, since nothing was raised or killed to produce it.

Yep - I believe it's even technically vegan, because it was willingly given.

I did it. I still have some left, actually. I believe it did help. I made DH do the, er, processing. I guess I'll do it again this time...

[broodymama]

I don't have a strong stomach (I gag when touching raw chicken) but I didn't have a problem encapsulating mine myself after DS2 was born. DH, OTOH, is very squeamish so I did it when he wasn't home.

[Adasmommy]

I had mine in smoothies in the first PP week and I felt great--tremendous energy and the transition from one child to two was so easy. I'm definitely going to do it every time.

I do not get PPD anyway, but the placenta is so valuable beyond that. It balances your hormones so you recover well, feel good, etc. As pp said, milk tends to come in sooner and pp bleeding ends sooner. I haven't seen anything about how it effects a nursing baby but I'd bet it's killer good for them too. Let's give them and us every benefit nature has to offer!

I'm a picky eater and won't eat liver, for example. But I had a friend come and chop up the placenta into ice cube sized pieces the day of the birth and freeze them. In a smoothie with OJ and strawberries, it tasted like strawberry smoothie and I didn't have any problem!

[Honey693]

I had mine encapsulated and it's awesome. My mood is so much more mellow and level than it was after I had DD1. I didn't have PPD with her, but I was verging on it and this time I feel great emotionally.

[karen1968]

I am having an unwanted but planned c-section tomorrow (placenta previa). I didn't suffer PPD after DS, but did have some bad days, and it took FOREVER (it seemed) for my milk to come in. So I am having my HB mw (now sadly reduced to doula) is going to encapsulate my placenta for me (and she does it on a sliding scale $40-100). My biggest fear/problem is it is hospital policy to keep the placenta for a week after the birth. We are hoping to sign it out AMA

[CBEmomma]

I've done this after my second birth. First birth was bad recovery and PPD. Second birth recovery was amazing and no PPD at all, not even baby blues and my hormones seemed great. I also offer the service to women in IA and MN. I think it's just truly amazing.

Benefits include

~ Faster recovery for mom
~ Healthy breastmilk supply
~ Helps avoid baby blues and PPD
~ Helps with iorn levels
~ Helps maintain hormones

Can also be used during your period to help with bloating, cramps, and hormones. Can also be used during menopause to help balance hormones.

[peainthepod]

I've done it after both births and can't recommend it highly enough. I'm prone to severe depression and anxiety and figured if anyone would get PPD, it'd be me. But my moods post-partum have been stable and my milk always comes in on the second day. I'm ten days post-partum today and my lochia is nearly gone.

Right after the birth I have a raw thumb-sized piece in a smoothie to help with any potential hemorrhaging and to boost colostrum production. Then we take the rest to the kitchen and start getting it ready to dry and encapsulate.

I can understand why someone would want to pay to have it dried and encapsulated, but it's very doable at home. After the midwife examines it, just rinse it gently (but not too thoroughly--you don't want to rinse out all of the blood) in cool running water, slice it into small strips, put the strips on a cookie sheet or two and stick it in the oven at 200 F with the oven door cracked open for 8-10 hours, however long it takes. You want the pieces to be hard and brittle at the end; if they're still bendy give it some more time to totally dry out.

Once the pieces are completely dry, grind them up in a a coffee grinder or food processor and stuff 00-sized caps (available at any health food or vitamin store) full of the powder. Keep the caps in a baggie or jar in a cool, dry, dark place (mine live in my nightstand drawer) and take as needed. Easy and free.

I take two with each meal and two before bed the first week, and then drop it down to two twice a day after that. Last pregnancy they lasted me about six months; this time they may go farther as I haven't found I've needed them nearly as much. (Much easier delivery and I have a lot more post-partum support this time.)

Good luck, however you do it! I have to admit I kind of enjoy the shock value of telling people what those pills are if they ask, or casually mentioning that I eat my placenta after every birth.

[stellamia]

Add me to the list!! I can say without a doubt that it has made a tremendous difference in my energy level! I have low thyroid to begin with so I'm run down and tired in general. I've been amazed at how well I'm recovering right now (almost two weeks PP) and how good I feel!

I've never had PPD but during my early days PP with my first two, I would get anxious thoughts about someone hurting their baby or neglecting it (avoid watching the news at all costs when you have a tiny baby...it's just bad) and just sob. I remember being scared to tell my husband about how upset I was because I thought I'd sound crazy or unstable. This time around, I get those thoughts in passing but I'm able to quickly put them out of my mind and they don't affect me the same way.

And my milk!! HELLO!! I always had milk that looked like fat free (random I know but that's the best way I can describe it) and now I'd say I have a solid 1% maybe even 2% milk! It's definitely thicker and my baby only lost 1/10th of an ounce her first week!

The woman who encapsulated my placenta charges $100-$200 on a sliding scale but I don't really think of that as too much considering she came and picked it up the day after my birth and brought back my pills the next day! Also, the last thing I want to be doing when my baby is a day old is dehydrating my placenta. More power to you if you do it yourself, but I'd rather pay and let someone else take care of it.

Bottom line, TOTALLY worth it and I also plan to do it from now on! I only wish more people knew about it so every woman could benefit from it!

[amyjeans]

Originally Posted by paxye

I did it... I was amazed at the results. I had so much energy after taking them... I still have some left and take them when I need a little pick-me-up...

I made my own and it was really easy... (even the day after I had given birth)

I documented the process here (warning pic of a placenta )

I quoted this because 1- its awesome to see pics of the process and 2- NOTE TO SELF, blend the placenta before you dehydrate!
We used our oven, and boiled it whole first, then sliced it like steak and then dehydrated it.
I followed PBI- but never thought to blend it then spread it out to dehydrate. It was tough to pulverize, because of so many big chuncks.

We're planning on doing it again with this next baby.

Thanks for the blog mama!
amyjean