Eating your Placenta to prevent PPD... - Page 17

[koalove]

i did the same...had it dried and put in capsules. it worked AMAZING and i mean like within hours. i still take it sometimes and dd is almost 1. still works! go for it mama!

[dianna11]

I'm starting to notice signs of PPD, and my placenta is chillin' in the freezer, how do I prepare it? Do I cut the membranes and cord off, or just include it?

I like the capsule idea, but I have to say, I'm very nervous about having the oven on for two days with the door open no less. Is there a way of thawing it somehow, then freezing it in smaller chunks to choke back whenever I need to?

[ChristieB]

Originally Posted by dianna11

I'm starting to notice signs of PPD, and my placenta is chillin' in the freezer, how do I prepare it? Do I cut the membranes and cord off, or just include it?

I like the capsule idea, but I have to say, I'm very nervous about having the oven on for two days with the door open no less. Is there a way of thawing it somehow, then freezing it in smaller chunks to choke back whenever I need to?

So long as you keep it cold, it's fine to thaw it and refreeze it. So, I would suggest thawing it (in the fridge), removing the membrane and cord, cutting it into small pieces, and refreezing. I would put the pieces on parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet, not touching each other, and freeze that way. Then remove the pieces and put them in a bag. Otherwise you're likely to get one big frozen chunk.

I made smoothies with mine, and wouldn't have known the placenta was in them (except that I put it there ). Really. I used berries, which hid the color. No need to dry it if you don't want to.

If you have a FoodSaver (or something like it), I would freeze some in that, just to keep it fresher. That way, if you don't use it all soon, it's fresh if you decide you need it later. Just a thought.

Congratulations on your new little one!! Hope you get to feeling better soon.

[dianna11]

Originally Posted by ChristieB

So long as you keep it cold, it's fine to thaw it and refreeze it. So, I would suggest thawing it (in the fridge), removing the membrane and cord, cutting it into small pieces, and refreezing. I would put the pieces on parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet, not touching each other, and freeze that way. Then remove the pieces and put them in a bag. Otherwise you're likely to get one big frozen chunk.

What about maybe freezing little chunks in an ice cube tray, that way they won't be touching and I could just crack them out when frozen and stick them in a ziplock freezer baggie as 'placenta cubes'. I'm actually being serious here. I'm a big fan of ice cube trays for freezing things like egg yolks, baby food, etc. I've just never worked with placenta before and I'm not sure if the texture would work, or if it's just like pieces of meat.

...er, now I just need to get over the *squick* of it all.

[ChristieB]

Originally Posted by dianna11

What about maybe freezing little chunks in an ice cube tray, that way they won't be touching and I could just crack them out when frozen and stick them in a ziplock freezer baggie as 'placenta cubes'. I'm actually being serious here. I'm a big fan of ice cube trays for freezing things like egg yolks, baby food, etc. I've just never worked with placenta before and I'm not sure if the texture would work, or if it's just like pieces of meat.

...er, now I just need to get over the *squick* of it all.

I love ice cube trays, too, but I don't know if they'd work for this. You could try a little bit that way and see if the cubes come out. Worst case you thaw again to get it out. I don't think you'd want to make the placenta pieces that big either (of course, this depends on the size of your trays). You don't need big pieces to make a big difference. My midwife and dh mostly prepared it for me, and the first few days dh made my smoothies. He used way more than I wanted him to, so I ran out sooner than I would have liked. (turned out OK, though). I wouldn't want that to happen to others. If you're already feeling a bit of PPD, though, may I suggest that you try a larger piece the first time, just to give your body a boost?

As for the texture, it's a bit like liver.

And as for the "squick" of it, I'd bet that after the first smoothie (or however you take it), you'll feel so much better that you won't even think about it. Maybe get your dh to make the first one? Just make sure you blend it well. The first time we made a smoothie with frozen rather than fresh, we didn't blend long enough and there was a little chunk left. It wasn't bad, I just swallowed it down like a pill. But it's better if it's all blended in.

[SunnieP]

I am having a very frustrated time in pa trying to find someone to encap my placenta. i have an email in to jodi in nevada but haven't gotten a response. i know my head will be spinning just taking care of newborn and 2 year old and don't anticipate being able to dry and encaps it myself.... ive even called all the local chinese doctors to no avail. any ideas?

[theboysmama]

i did it myself and it really wasn't that hard. Dh took the kiddos while I did it. I felt bad enough I was willing to do anything to feel better. It was so worth it. It felt good to prepare it myself, not sure how to explain it.
I had a 4 1/2 yr old a 2 1/2 year old and a newborn.

[dannic]

Originally Posted by theboysmama

i did it myself and it really wasn't that hard. Dh took the kiddos while I did it. I felt bad enough I was willing to do anything to feel better. It was so worth it. It felt good to prepare it myself, not sure how to explain it.
I had a 4 1/2 yr old a 2 1/2 year old and a newborn.

I bought an encapsulator at the HFS ($16) and dehydrated it--dh filled them while watching one episode of the Andy griffith Show. Pretty easy and well worth it! GL!

[SunnieP]

Yea, you know what they say if you want something done right......get your mother to do it. So she is game and I'll just buy the encapsulator.

[MamaVolpe]

I just though of a great new way to prepare your placenta if you are thinking of eating it :












: Placenta Sushi! :

What do you think?

[Tori Gollihugh]

dianna11 I feel ya girl! Seriously, I took some of my placenta raw immediately (the few days) after DD#2 was born and it was REALLY difficult. I commend the hardier women who have a less tenuous gag reflex! I actually ended up throwing up the last time I swallowed a raw bit. Very upset about that waste! I dried it ALL after that. I mean, EVERY BIT! cord... you name it. The difficult part was getting it down to powder and I have a Quisenart! My HUGE recommendation is to cut it into smallish bits to dry because then you'll have a MUCH easier time of getting it to powder AND it will dry out MUCH faster than if you just stick it in the oven like I did.

I meditate and even with my mental training I still couldn't manage to detatch my brain from swallowing some of itself! So, if you have had that problem OR are worried about it - don't worry, you can deal wtih the capsules. Sometimes even those are difficult, but I've never heaved over one! (yet... I'm preggie now, so it COULD happen)

[riverundine]

Originally Posted by SunnieP

Yea, you know what they say if you want something done right......get your mother to do it. So she is game and I'll just buy the encapsulator.

you don't really have to have the capper. when i went to cap mine my capsules weren't the right size for my capper so i just scooped and capped by hand after i ground it all up with my coffee bean grinder. my 2 year old helped and it was actually lots of fun .

[ilikethedesert]

My Naturopath told me how to make a remedy from my placenta. Pretty simple, although I need to call again and get him to give me the details again before I do it. Supposedly it will be great for myself, but also all of my children!

[melanyh]

i just want to post for anyone who has done this and NOT felt so super...

not that i don't think it can help or does help, but my main M.O. for making placenta caps was to help w/PPD. my PPD is full & strong, unfortunately. i don't blame anyone or regret encapsulating my placenta.

PHYSICALLY i'm recovering phenomenally (just the exhaustion of a newborn AND having a 4-y-o) w/minimal bleeding, feel perfectly normal perineal-speaking -- mw said my uterus had shrunk down very small and that i looked really good.

so, perhaps i can owe the physical recovery to my placenta -- my PPD is bad and my milk supply is extremely low (as it was with my first son -- and i mean really low even after supplements and tea and pumping and everything -- do i blame PPD for that? i don't know ... ).

i think, like anything, it has varying degrees of success and i wouldn't discourage anyone from doing it and i feel empowered i did it. it just wasn't the panacea i'd hoped for ...

[Limabean1975]

Wow, melanyh, I am so sorry to hear you are struggling, but I think your contribution to this thread is very valuable. We should all be aware that there is not magic bullet, not even placentaphagia, and be aware that we could still experience PPD. I hope you are getting any help you can and feel better soon.

[melanyh]

again, though, i'd encourage anyone to do it. why not, in fact? i could be "that much worse" without it, who knows? i just expected so so so much -- which is probably a whole OTHER issue on my part (high expectations & all ... )

it was surprisingly easy and much less gross than i'd anticipated. for the record, i also do some work in pathology in a surgi-center, so tissue and blood, etc., isn't such a big deal to me.

[zoie2013]

Awesome thread!

[2mama]

THis is awsome. If we ever get prego again I would like to try encapsuling it. I had bad PPD and if this works that would be great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[unlegal]

Bumping this up! Am seriously considering adding placenta encapsulation to my doula services, and would love to read any more information people have on the benefits of placentophagy.

[Cohen'sMom]

Here is an interesting article about placentophagia:
http://cogprints.org/757/0/gustibus.htm

The only study it refers to on humans that I noticed as done in 1954:

"Ingestion of placenta during delivery, because of the high estrogen and lactogen content, may affect lactation or milk composition [77] in some species. In a somewhat unrigorous study on humans, reported in 1954, disguised freeze- dried human placenta was fed to postpartum women experiencing some lactational difficulty [69]. Apparently, 86% of the subjects showed improved milk production and flow, whereas among control subjects, fed beef treated identically to the placenta, only 33% showed improvement. Further more, the authors classified more than a third of the placenta-improved subjects, but none of the beef-improved subjects, as having an "extremely strong" positive reaction. The authors also reported that a parallel study was being conducted on cows, and that the preliminary data also appeared to support the positive effect of placentophagia on milk production."