Eating your Placenta to prevent PPD... - Page 7

[SAHMommie]

I too dont understand why posters are not allowed to disagree with the topic. I have no desire to bash anyone for comsuming their placenta. If you can do it and it helps you in some way, more power to you. IMO

[majazama]

myorganicbabies~ I just replied to your PM, then I see this on my thread. I appreciated that you PMed me about it, but am not very happy about seeing this on the thread. I see you are a new member, I guess that says a lot.

I guess the reason I don't want to see negative opinions on placenta-eating, is because I think that it's a very healthy way to treat PPD, and many other PP problems. I'd, personally, love to see women using their placentas rather than pharmacutical drugs. And I don't want to see women getting turned off from it because of others innappropriate comments (in the context of the thread goal).

[mamamoo]

hmm...i got a pm too. interesting. i think i will be ignoring this person...i actually don't have the energy to care whether people think it's gross or not. I know it works, and is healthy and natural, i will continue to talk about it positively so people know it's an option.
debi(nak)

[hairpin]

I'm just wondering how receptive hospitals are to saving your placenta for you. I'm having a hospital, not a home birth, and I'm kind of sensitive about raising this issue until I have some kind of idea how they might react.

My hospital seems to be fairly progressive, so far, with whirlpool tubs, a tilting bed, birthing bar, fridge in room. What do you think my chances are of them not laughing at me? And perhaps I could get my doula (haven't hired one yet) to take care of this for me?

[majazama]

Originally Posted by hairpin

I'm just wondering how receptive hospitals are to saving your placenta for you. I'm having a hospital, not a home birth, and I'm kind of sensitive about raising this issue until I have some kind of idea how they might react.

My hospital seems to be fairly progressive, so far, with whirlpool tubs, a tilting bed, birthing bar, fridge in room. What do you think my chances are of them not laughing at me? And perhaps I could get my doula (haven't hired one yet) to take care of this for me?

Don't be afraid to ask. And it's your placenta, you have a right to keep it, if you want to. I've heard that lots of doulas are starting to incorporate placenta-prep in their list of duties. Good luck!


AWall~ Um, that's really hitting below the belt, and quite uncalled for. :

[vespersongs]

Still feeling great..

Just thought that I'd mention that I'm still feeling/coping great; milk is abundant...here we are at 3 weeks postpartum and all is well! I'm taking a gelcap about 1x/week at this point, when my body tells me i need it.

So...Thank you, placenta! You're serving me well!

[Full Heart]

Well I made it to 6 weeks. I wasn't convinced my placenta cured my ppd till I made it to 6 weeks (I don't know why but 6 weeks in my mind was the magical number). That was yesterday - and guess what? I feel great . I am better! Ladies who have suffered from ppd know why I would be so excited about this. Its incredible to be well again.

[Niamh]

Hmmm...I got a pm from the lovely Myorganicbabies also. Unfortunately I responded to her via pm before I came to the thread and saw that she'd pm'd others. She'll be going on ignore.

And I am so happy to hear about those who are having success! Keep those stories coming! I'm excited to be doing this with my next birth!

[eorr]

Congrats on the success, ladies! I think that's great. I'd like to do it myself, in May - I think I have tendencies towards depression, but have never been diagnosed. Anyone know a midwife or anyone in Long Beach, CA that helps with preparation?

[Nkenga]

I'm so glad to read more about this topic! I've been seriously considering encapsulating the placenta after the birth, but I hadn't really read much about other women who had used it in this way. I'm slightly prone to depression anyway - although luckily I'e had NO problems with it this entire pregnancy - and I wanted to do something to head off PPD. This sounds PERFECT!

Nikki
Jon or Gianna guess date 12/30

[ChelseaG]

I ate it

I ate a small amount of my placenta about 3 days after my birth in July - I just cut off a chunk (I had kept it in the fridge) washed it really good - and cut it into the size of a large vitamin - put it in the back of my throat and swallowed with water - I was expecting it to be gross - but it really wasn't at all and I couldn't even taste it.
I heard that there is more benefits when it is raw rather than cooking or drying - I only had that one piece and then froze the rest to plant under a tree later - but I think even that little bit really helped - I only had heavy bleeding for about 5 days after the birth and then it was a very light discharge after that for another week or so...and that is it! Plus I had really mild baby blues - just a little weepy - no ppd at all...
Just my experience - Good luck to all who want to try it!

[maylea_moon]

I think this is such a cool idea. I'm definitely considering it for when I have my next baby. I think I will swallow a raw piece and make the rest into capsules. (it'll be quite awhile, I'm not even pg!)

I'm kind of shocked at the people who are all grossed out by it. It doesn't gross me out at all and I'm even the kind of person that used to get grossed out by cloth diapers!

I mean really, I've suffered through PPD and I'd do just about ANYTHING not to have to go through it again. Eating my placenta seems like no biggie at all compared to the heartbreak that comes along with PPD. Thank you so much ladies for all the awesome info on this and I'll definitely be posting again with my experience when I have my next child.

[maylea_moon]

Wow, this thread must have really gotten into my head last night. All I dreampt about all night long was making placenta capsules!!

[MasonsMom68]

Wow, and here I thought I was being a bit extreme, wanting to eat the placenta... unfortunately, after the birth of our first, we thought we'd cook it right away, so we just kept it in the 'fridge. Of course, we were so engrossed in being parents that we left it too long, and were afraid it might have spoiled (wish I'd thought to freeze it).

So, after our second child's birth, we just looked at each other & said, "you know we won't get around to it..." I wish now that we had had one or both of our moms prepare it, since we have a food dehydrater -- what a great idea! If we have another child, I'll definitely persue that option.

Thanks for such an interesting thread!

[riverundine]

so glad to have found this thread

my mom ate her placenta with her 4th baby, so it was always in my head as being a possibility...i had heard of the smoothie method and cooking it like liver, both of which grossed me out, personally...but i was/am very interested in the benefits of incorporating the placenta back into your system...instinctively, it makes sense to me.
i had only understood the benefits as being a "replenishment" after birth, restoring vital nutrients to the mothers body. i am fascinated to learn of it's powerful effect on treating ppd, as well as helping to prevent hemmorhaging (sp?). i had quite a bit of blood loss after the birth of my daughter in august. had i known about this benefit of taking/eating the placenta, well, it wouldn't still be in my freezer. my midwife just gave me a shot of pitocin and some pharmies to start the contractions, had me hurry up and push out the placenta, and hurry up and cut the cord...then told me to keep my legs together and not move for 3 days. really would have loved to have known about this benefit sooner. but no complaints, really. everything ended up just fine. good to know for the future.
i am interested in finding out more about how long it stays good for in the freezer. i would still love to capsule it. a pp said that she found some info about how "meat" is fine in the freezer for up to 2 months, i think. seems to me that it should be longer than that, but, as a vegetarian, i'm clueless in this department. i also am wondering about how to handle it, since it's frozen. should i put it into the fridge for a day or two to let it thaw? should i put it in the sink and let a thin stream of cool water run over it til it's thawed? i plan on following the tcm method, as this has been tried and true for thousands of years.
does anyone know the name of cornelia ennings book? sounds like something i need to get my hands on. i really want to make the butt balm with placenta powder and ghee. i make homemade ghee and it has many amazing and powerful healing properties as well. i'd even go so far as to recommend making a medicated ghee with the placenta powder...it would act as a wonderful carrier and tonic. ghee increases our ojas, or vital life force, which can definately get depleted in the birthing process. it also tonifies the nervous and endocrine systems. they seem to go perfectly together.
i'm really inspired to make the capsules and medicated ghee. if anyone is wanting/needing some help with this in my area, i'd love to do it. such powerful medicine . thanks for this thread .

[riverundine]

okay, i just went back and read the usda link on page 3 for food safety guidelines...it says that fresh liver can be frozen for 3-4 months. i'm going with this as a comparable piece of "meat" and going for it! i'm at the end of the 4 month window, so i need to get on it quick . thanks to everyone who contributed all this valuable information .

[ktmama]

I had really bad PPD with dd1. So with dd2 I had my placenta dried and made into capsules. I took 4/day until they were gone (about 6 weeks) and I cannot tell you what an incredible difference it made! I highly recommend it! BTW - I didn't do it myself - my mw hooked me up with a friend of her who came and got the placenta and delivered the pills 24 hours later for $60. Good luck!

[sunflowerX4]

I have some questions on this.

We did placenta shakes with our last baby. I have only good to say about that. They weren't bad, they helped the PPD (until 21 months pp but that is another story). Etc. etc.

This pregnancy has been VERY stressful. A big move, my emotional state anyway, home renovations, etc. I haven't eaten as well as I did with my last baby (he is 4 now). We did progesterone injections to STAY pregnant, etc.

Is this stress in the placenta? I mean...will it just keep the stress going if I eat/consume the placenta? Or will it still help?

We planned on a couple of placenta shakes (1 at a few hours after birth, and a couple in the next few days). I have the capsuls bought to grind and dry it.

I am trying to avoid ppd/anxiety which I have had in the past. But because I have had some depression and anxiety during the pregnancy I was wondering how this would effect things.

[janellesmommy]

All this talk about dehydrating, grinding, putting into capsules--it makes me very nervous to think of all the work. I don't care how gross it may seem--I'd rather eat it raw than do any work! And that's what I plan to do.

[Gitti]

OK, I just got done doing my dd's placenta.

She delivered in the hospital and they gave her the placenta - no problem - to take home. We froze it right away because with the new baby and the 2 y. old we had our hands full for a while. Cooking organic, vegetarian every day besides...

Anyway, after 10 days I came back home, and I brought the frozen placenta with me. Yesterday I defrosted it in the refrigerator. This evening I took it out, cut the cord off - I asked dh to do it but he handed me the scissors with a long arm barely getting them close enough for me to reach - and was out of here.

So, I cut the cord off, and tried to take it out of the sack. It wouldn't come out, so I put it in a pan and boiled it on very low heat for about 15 minutes. Actually I was surprised that it did not have a bad smell. It smelled like liver from what I remember.

After it was boiled, I drained it and rinsed it thoroughly. I still only got half the sack off, the other side was like glued to it so I left it on.

Then I cut it into thin slices, put it on a broiler (cookie) sheet, I greased it a bit with some butter, and it's now in the oven dehydrating.

When it's dry (maybe by tomorrow morning) I will crumble it up. Perhaps it will turn to powder.

I want to give it to dd to either use now, taking it by capsules, or maybe saving it for when she goes through menopause. (?)

DD has no depressions, but I figure it can't hurt and besides, she wanted to make use of it. So...

Can it be saved for like 20 yrs.? How?



After I sliced it I called dh into the kitchen and asked him whether he wanted a sandwich. He bolted out of her so fast and yelled something about me being a sadist... I just don't understand? He used to eat tongue sandwiches growing up. I yelled back it's even better than tongue

I was just having a little fun.

I see nothing gross about it and I am glad I did it.