Anyone else planning on encapsulating their placenta?? - Page 2

[hartfelt]

Our doula encapsulated mine after my last birth. I took them for a few months and had no ppd. I still have bottle of them, and DH and I take them when we get a cold, or feel like our immune system needs a boost. My dear friend pan seared a small piece of hers right after her birth and ate it. She said it tasted like an expensive steak. placentas are strong medicine.

[BirthFree]

Originally Posted by cameragirl 

When I posted about this on the "I'm Pregnant" board, a few women said that the pills had a meaty/iron smell like gamey meat. Did any of you notice that?

I personally didn't notice that.  Maybe some of it has to do with how dry it is when it's encapsulated?  I kept mine in the freezer but I had them on my counter for months and they were fine too.  I could see they may smell like iron... but I just didn't notice that with mine.  I will say that as I helped prep some others' placentas, they all smell different when they dehydrate.  Each unique.  One we did smelled like cinnamon when it dehydrated.  So maybe some of that has to do with diet?  

[mamathomas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cameragirl 

When I posted about this on the "I'm Pregnant" board, a few women said that the pills had a meaty/iron smell like gamey meat. Did any of you notice that?

I did notice a very slight irony taste/smell to mine, even with keeping them cold.  But it wasn't bad at all.  I'm a long time vegetarian and had no issues taking them.
 

[TriciaRawks]

So I've had people ask me before if I was gonna do this and I'm just like Dandylion....don't know enough about it, yeah it sounds gross. Kind of like how I was before I got educated about circumcision, cloth diapering, and natural birth. (I had already thought I knew what to do but then was lovingly persuaded that a different option would be better.)

Anyway, so I'm totally looking to be persuaded by someone who is totally passionate about it. I guess I'll have to do my fair share of research and try to figure out how it is done (to wrap my mind around the concept). Thanks for that link, I'll check it out!

[Janel47]

I have been thinking about this a little (and can hardly believe that I am!!!) because my recoveries are so hard.  Post partum, my blood pressure goes up for a few weeks, I bleed like crazy, and even when most people are fully recovered, I'm stuck on the couch because activity causes bleeding.  I'm hoping not to tear this time, but those recoveries were awful too.  Do you think the placenta would help with any of that stuff, or is it more emotional help?  I took one look at a DIY placenta encapsulation site and almost vomited... but thankfully my midwife has it listed under her services if we decide to try. 

[Brighids Flame]

I had planned on doing this, but when I spoke to a local midwife a few months before TTC, she said that it seems like a lot of the vitamins/nutrients/enzymes/hormones would be lost in the dehydrating process. She said she recommends freezing it in small chunks, and blending them into fruit smoothies. Does anyone know if it's true about the dehydrating process destroying all the good stuff in the placenta? And has anyone ever tried the smoothie thing? I know I'm on-board with placentophagy, I'm just not sure how I'll be consuming it...

[JMJ]

Janel, I don't recommend looking at DIY placenta pages in your first trimester.  There is reasonable evidence that it helps with bleeding to the point that an old midwives' remedy for postpartum hemmhorage was to cut off a chunk of placenta for the bleeding mother.  A modern, more palatable version of this involves putting some into the blender with tomato or other juice and cayenne pepper.

Brighids Flame, I am sure that some of the nutrients would be lost, but most would still be there.  Look up nutrient loss with dehydrated foods.  The minerals should all still be there.

[cameragirl]

Dehydrating at a cool temperature should preserve most of the vitamins, minerals, and likely the hormones. I believe that most meat is dehydrated at around 150 - just high enough to prevent bacterial contamination.

Oh, and the DIY pages are definitely not the best for anyone that is feeling queasy. Once you're past that, they are fine.

[Janel47]

Thanks ladies!  You're probably right... it was a stupid thing to do, especially since the sight of blood makes me woozy on a good day, pregnant or not!  With that in mind, I'll avoid my DIY obsession on this one and leave it to a pro.  :)  I'll talk to my midwife at our next appointment and see what she says.  I think I may have a mild bleeding disorder, so I want to have a complete discussion about this with her soon!

[xosara]

How do you encapsulate your placenta?

[RachaelsMommy]

Originally Posted by xosara 

How do you encapsulate your placenta?

Essentially, you just dry it, grind it up, and put it in capsules.

[SophiaPLUS2]

I really want to! I'm just having trouble finding someone in my area that does it. I had trouble with milk supply and PPD, so I want to try anything that will help!

[fiannas]

I definitely want to. I bled quite a bit following delivery and feel this would help with recovery as well as to help balance out the hormones. I have no idea how to bring this up to my mainstream hubs though! He is going to think I have finally fully lost my mind.

[JMJ]

Originally Posted by fiannas 

I definitely want to. I bled quite a bit following delivery and feel this would help with recovery as well as to help balance out the hormones. I have no idea how to bring this up to my mainstream hubs though! He is going to think I have finally fully lost my mind.

Slowly and respectfully.  You didn't come to this conclusion overnight, and neither will he.  Give him bits of information at a time to allow them to sink in and respect his feelings about the whole thing.  Just as you probably went through the process of first thinking that it's really gross to thinking that a pill isn't too bad and probably started out skeptical of this "wives tale" until you realized that it just might be something completely natural and side-effect free that could help, so why not?  In the same way, he'll have to go through that same process.

[SophiaPLUS2]

Originally Posted by fiannas 

I definitely want to. I bled quite a bit following delivery and feel this would help with recovery as well as to help balance out the hormones. I have no idea how to bring this up to my mainstream hubs though! He is going to think I have finally fully lost my mind.

Don't worry my DH is against it, but then again it's not his body and he didn't experience the PPD I did or the feeling of failure as a mother when my supply dried up at 6 months. 

[farmheart]

i am really excited because my midwife will do it for me this time! i, personally, don't think it is gross at all. I think placentas are amazing!!!!

[Janel47]

DH is on board oddly enough... he's a little freaked out by the idea, but says I can do it if I want to and think the benefits would be worth it.

[bcblondie]

Originally Posted by Brighids Flame 

I had planned on doing this, but when I spoke to a local midwife a few months before TTC, she said that it seems like a lot of the vitamins/nutrients/enzymes/hormones would be lost in the dehydrating process. She said she recommends freezing it in small chunks, and blending them into fruit smoothies. Does anyone know if it's true about the dehydrating process destroying all the good stuff in the placenta? And has anyone ever tried the smoothie thing? I know I'm on-board with placentophagy, I'm just not sure how I'll be consuming it...

I want to know if this is true too. At first I was thinking encapsulation because I didn't want to taste it. But I see blogs about not tasting it even in fruit smoothies. So heck, if cutting and freezing is better for you I'll do that way. Save me time and money on encapsulation...
 

[MeTooMama]

I am definitely interested and wished I had done it with my last four. But, I don't know anyone who does it in our area. I am going to go look around on the internet and I'll probably find someone. I don't think I could just eat it though... I mean, it's like the difference between seeing a lobster on your plate and seeing it in the tank. I want to take my medicine in pill form not in original form lol.

[RosieL]

DDCC!
 

Originally Posted by bcblondie 

I want to know if this is true too. At first I was thinking encapsulation because I didn't want to taste it. But I see blogs about not tasting it even in fruit smoothies. So heck, if cutting and freezing is better for you I'll do that way. Save me time and money on encapsulation... 

I too would like to know how true this is. Dehydration is usually the best way to preserve all the vitamins and minerals in fruits and veggies, so I would think it's a great way to get as much as you can out of the placenta. Of course, no processing will preserve 100%, which leads to freezing...

I'm considering asking my mom to help me encapsulate after baby is born. I have no idea whether she'll think I'm crazy. She's an old-school attachment parent, extended BFing, co-sleeping mama, but I don't know how far her liberalism goes! ;)