Placenta Encapsulation?

[zombie_bride]

Have we already talked about this and I missed it? I tend to lurk and not post much...trying to change that haha! Is anyone encapsulating or eating their placenta?

[HawaiianBlesing]

Pretty sure there was a post about it a ways back.  I'm doing an immediate post delivery smoothie then going to encapsulate some and try to tincture some as well.  Hubby is less than thrilled that I want to do it myself and not fork over unnecessary $$$ for someone else to do it. 

[zombie_bride]

I am doing the same! What are you thinking with the smoothie? My doula thinks I should cook a piece and eat it instead of smoothie but for some reason that grosses me out more

[Italiamom]

I'm going to try to eat some of it raw immediately postpartum.  If I can't handle it straight, then I'll have my midwife make up a smoothie.  But she says that often times women are surprised at how willing they are to eat it.  You've got all the primal energy right after birth, and that she's had mamas surprise her!

I'm hoping to encapsulate the rest, which is a service my midwife offers.

[HawaiianBlesing]

Originally Posted by zombie_bride 

I am doing the same! What are you thinking with the smoothie? My doula thinks I should cook a piece and eat it instead of smoothie but for some reason that grosses me out more

Grosses me out too.  I've read some cooked recipes online and it's not for me.  I've read that if you blend it up with some cold fruit & either yogurt, milk or ice cream, you can't even taste it.  That's my plan. Hubby is a little grossed out by it but he states that as long as he doesn't have to eat it, he'll be fine with whatever I do with it. 

I've also read that cooking it loses some of the nutritional content....I compare it to cooking meat & vegetables.  The more rare the beef or raw the vegetables, the easier it is to digest and the more nutrients are left in it.

[Italiamom]

Originally Posted by HawaiianBlesing 

I've also read that cooking it loses some of the nutritional content....I compare it to cooking meat & vegetables.  The more rare the beef or raw the vegetables, the easier it is to digest and the more nutrients are left in it.

[mareseatoats]

Originally Posted by zombie_bride 

I am doing the same! What are you thinking with the smoothie? My doula thinks I should cook a piece and eat it instead of smoothie but for some reason that grosses me out more

This is what I'm planning on too (smoothie and then encapsulate). We considered cutting it up and freezing it and then having it in smoothies, DF even said he'd make them for me, but I feel like I might get more from it if we do the capsules. Cooking it to eat doesn't appeal to me at all, either. I'm excited to try it in the smoothie, though.

Kind of a funny aside, DF works in video game production, so primarily with a lot of young guys (he's 26) and I guess some of them were talking in the office about how they had heard some people eat the placenta and how weird that was, and DF jumped in to tell them all the benefits . I bet they weren't expecting that.

[Baby_Cakes]

I'm having mine encapsulated.  Not touching it myself and neither is DH, lol.  I found someone who will come pick it up and drop it off when it's ready.  

[Italiamom]

Mareseatoats, what're your thoughts on why you'd rather have the capsules?  Just less work, or longevity?  I'd be curious.  I had also wondered about maybe saving some and just using it in smoothies frozen for a few weeks postpartum.  I had the whole thing encapsualted the first time, and certainly like the ease of taking those pills!  But if there's a benefit to the capsules vs. frozen, I'd be interested to hear.
 

Originally Posted by mareseatoats 

DF works in video game production, so primarily with a lot of young guys (he's 26) and I guess some of them were talking in the office about how they had heard some people eat the placenta and how weird that was, and DF jumped in to tell them all the benefits . I bet they weren't expecting that.

Aw, that'd make me swoon

DH works with 5 other engineers on his team, and 2 of them also have pregnant wives due within a few weeks of me.  He'll occasionally relay conversations that he has with them about their wives' respective pregnancies, and I think he gets kind of a kick out of it.  I can only imagine what they must think of his contributions to those conversations!  But I'll have to ask him if they've talked about placentas yet  

[Beckily]

My doula is encapsulating mine and giving me a tonic. Seems reasonable to ingest it, but there's no way I'm chewing it! Pills! Pills I can do! ;)

[Jbouck5]

I found a Chinese Medicine practitioner who makes capsules, and includes herbs that are meant to help with PPD, so that's the route I'm going. Taking it home, and freezing it to put in smoothies would probably be too much work for me, and while DH supports me ingesting the placenta, it totally grosses him out, and I don't think I could get him to help me prepare it.

[cat13]

I'm definitely going to encapsulate mine, which reminds me that I haven't put any of the supplies to do so on my big to-do list! 

Also, here's the thread where we talked about this a few months ago... I remember that it had some great links for instructions in it. 

[Emerging butterfly]

I'm having a woman who offers a great service do it...she will encapsulate it and make it into a tincture as well....She's really reasonable about my making payments and will arrive shortly after the birth and deliver it back to me within 24 hours. I'm really grateful for intelligent medicine options!!!

[mareseatoats]

Originally Posted by Italiamom 

Mareseatoats, what're your thoughts on why you'd rather have the capsules?  Just less work, or longevity?  I'd be curious.  I had also wondered about maybe saving some and just using it in smoothies frozen for a few weeks postpartum.  I had the whole thing encapsualted the first time, and certainly like the ease of taking those pills!  But if there's a benefit to the capsules vs. frozen, I'd be interested to hear.

I felt like it might be easier to take capsules regularly. I like smoothies, but I have a really sensitive stomach and I'm afraid that I might not be able to have them as often as I really wanted to. I also think that you get a lot more pills than you would smoothie, so I can have them for longer. The other thing I just thought of the other day is that we'll be moving to Denver (from Portland) about a month after LO is due, and how would we move frozen placenta?  But that wasn't the main consideration.

[HawaiianBlesing]

My LLL leader suggested that I save some of the capsules for about 3 months post partum as well.  She said there is a really big hormone shift around that point and the "saved" capsules can really be a life saver.

Just thought I'd mention that. 

[happylemon]

I am bumping this up instead of stating a new post. I just found out the assistant that works with my midwives does encapsulation and she only charges 1/4 of what anyone else locally charges! She has not been doing it for very long (I think that is why she charges less) but she learned from someone locally that is very reputable and well known. I am so happy, I really wanted to do it, but not myself nor did I want to pay $300! Plus she will just take it home with her after the birth and hopefully have it done for my three day visit!

[Italiamom]

Originally Posted by sarah2881 

I am bumping this up instead of stating a new post. I just found out the assistant that works with my midwives does encapsulation and she only charges 1/4 of what anyone else locally charges! She has not been doing it for very long (I think that is why she charges less) but she learned from someone locally that is very reputable and well known. I am so happy, I really wanted to do it, but not myself nor did I want to pay $300! Plus she will just take it home with her after the birth and hopefully have it done for my three day visit!

That's awesome!  My midwife charges $200 for it, and a big part of me is considering just freezing it in little chunks and putting them in a smoothie every day because of the expense.  I appreciated the capsules last time, but...  Sigh.  Money money money...

[happylemon]

I know... money... there is no way I could do the $300. Last time I did not do anything with the placenta and also had horrible health after the baby. I had 6 mastitis infections and just a bum immune system the first year and came down with everything! I told Dh maybe the capsules would help with that this time and he said we would do what ever needed to be done the find $75! That year was really rough on all of us.

[shantibaby]

the first midwife i worked with always blends some with frozen strawberries, for health, but especially for hemorrhage. but the midwife i ended up working with said that chinese medicine dictates warm/hot foods are best after delivery, so she asked if i would just eat it straight, with a miso soup chaser. i said i'd give it a try.... it was wonderful!!! the piece i had was like excellent sushi, i was so grateful for that experience! unfortunately my partner, in the primal moment himself, took a piece as well, but then slightly gagged, said it was a bit grisly, strong iron tasting and burped it for a while. he ended up cutting off similar parts, making several portions to freeze, and made a berrie smoothie one day, and cooked it in a teriaki sort of sauce another day.... super tasty, but then after that i was done. i think we let one portion go to waste, which i'm a bit sad about now. kept the umbilical cord in the freezer, it's cool to look at from time to time. i read you can cut it in pieces, knot them, and dry them for natural teethers, but never tried.

[shantibaby]

Originally Posted by HawaiianBlesing 

My LLL leader suggested that I save some of the capsules for about 3 months post partum as well.  She said there is a really big hormone shift around that point and the "saved" capsules can really be a life saver.

Just thought I'd mention that. 

I can vouch for the 3 months post partum "really big hormone shift" !!!! wish i'd kept some for then.