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If you ate your placenta

post #1 of 45
3/18/06 at 10:56pm
Thread Starter 
How did you eat it? I am NOT planning on drying it and making capsules with it.
I plan on eating it as soon as possible after birth, raw, or in smoothies.

How did you make the smoothies (if that's what you did)?
Did you cook it?
How long did it take you to eat it?

I am absolutely willing to try anything to avoid PPD again. I've heard this is a wonderful thing.

All input is greatly appreciated!

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post #2 of 45
3/18/06 at 10:57pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, and I have no problem eating gross stuff, hell, I've eaten McDonald's and drunk castor oil!
post #3 of 45
3/18/06 at 11:56pm
Some great sites with placents recipes and instructions:

http://www.geocities.com/virtualbirth/placenta.html (includes the smoothie recipe - scroll down to the bottom half of the page, placenta recipes are just under the "Chinese Medicine" section).

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/eatplcnt.html (a few options, I don't think it's really what you're looking for but wanted to include it).

http://www.unhinderedliving.com/placentaessence.html (Making placenta essence for PPD).

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...=361394&page=1 (MDC thread about eating your placenta to prevent PPD).

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookboo...alian_Placenta (like a stir-fry recipe).

Placenta Sashimi: Chill on ice (raw), slice very, very thin, eat with rice and nori (seaweed). Should be very restorative, but watch the wasabi - I think it's a blood thinner. So is ginger. Stick with a bit of soy!

I've heard that it works well to stop bleeding if a small raw piece is placed in the lip next to the gums or under the tongue...

I think having it raw is best, as cooking it destoys much of the valuable hormones and nutrients (I've heard). Just a reminder/FYI, if you have any drugs during labour you can't eat the placenta. There are some great resources about placenta recipes here on the MDC boards (just search for "placenta recipe") and online (try googling it or using a similar search engine). Hope this has been helpful!
post #4 of 45
3/21/06 at 11:29am
I had dh cut it into little pieces and freeze them on a cookie sheet. Then every day I have been making a smoothie out of a lump of the frozen placenta, half a banana, some frozen berries, and some yogurt or kefir. You can't taste the placenta at all, and I wanted to have a few weeks supply with minimal effort, and it's been great thusfar.

I definitely think that raw is best, and honestly, much easier to get down.

Good luck, it seems to be helping me.
post #5 of 45
3/21/06 at 7:48pm
Dh cut it up into chunks. I ate 2 small pieces right away, but I kinda gagged on the second one. The rest he blended with fresh squeezed orange juice and it was fantastic! It was just like drinking pink OJ. Next time I'm just going to do the OJ thing with all of it. I didn't freeze any. I felt that it was best to consume as much as possible fresh.

I haven't had even a whisper of PPD, but this is my first baby, so maybe I'm just not prone to it.
post #6 of 45
3/21/06 at 9:54pm
I cut my placenta into 1 inch chunks and froze them on a cookie sheet. I added one frozen chunk to frozen berries, some pomegranate juice and some vanilla smoothie powder from coffee bean and tea leaf to make a smoothie. It tasted delicious and was very nourishing. I had some pretty serious postpartum physical complications and I drank the smoothie when that got me down, and I feel fortunate that I didn't have PPD on top of the other stuff I was going through.
post #7 of 45
3/23/06 at 12:09pm
Thread Starter 
Wow, great responses~! Thanks so much!
post #8 of 45
3/30/06 at 10:30pm
I haven't eaten my own placenta yet, but I TOTALLY plan to after current utero-baby is born because I experienced Horrible PPD after DD. I've read a bit (not as much as some, however) and was convined pretty easily. Basically, I was still weirded out about the idea, but convinced after reading the LONG placenta eating thread HERE! I think I'm really HOPING to find something really natural and safe to ease the issue (or completely eliminate it?) this time! And what could be more natural? Anyway...

I was already convinced prior to reading the site linked, of my plan for my own placentophagy: eat a few small pieces (like large pill size) immediately after DC is born, keep a small amount (around the size of a softball maybe?) in the fridge and cut off small pieces to eat when I feel down in the first few days, cut the rest into very small pieces, freeze individually and then store in a larger air-tight container in the freezer and use these a couple a day (hopefully not more than that) as needed to help with any down/sad feelings. Anyway... this is my own plan because of all the personal stories I've read about how sad ladies were when their placenta was gone and they couldn't use it to help with their emotions/energy any longer.

This site... can't remebmer how I found it, is WONDERFUL because the author is sharing her own experience!!!
http://www.birthrites.org/placent.html
post #9 of 45
12/1/06 at 3:18am
I ate mine raw right after birth (It doesnt have any taste and the texture is just like jello, so it goes down easily).
My doula and DH cooked and encapsulated the leftovers.
post #10 of 45
12/1/06 at 6:53pm

no post partum so far- how to :)

I had two home births, each time my Midwife took a piece of placenta about the size of a quarter.
She let this dry over night and then she cut 3 match stick pieces of it and put in in a capsule.

She tells me to take one "AS SOON AS your milk comes in"

Then take one every 8 hours.

She said that she learned this from a Chinese doctor and NONE of her mommies have had post partum depression since they do this. ( She has done over 1,300 home births, and probably half that have been taking this- no post partum!)

Blessings!
Barbara
post #11 of 45
12/4/06 at 1:17pm
Thread Starter 
Updating...

I ate a small piece after birth and cut the rest of it up and froze the chunks. I made daily smoothies with the pieces until it was all gone.

nak

word to the wise: BLEND WELL!
post #12 of 45
12/4/06 at 1:25pm

on more thing...

You can also dry the rest of your placenta and put small bits into these pills and save it for menopause.

You can take your own placenta to ease your symptoms.

Barbara

PS
For all Mom's birthing at a hopspital, I would request and take home my placenta and cord. Otherwise they are sold by the hospital to various companies.

You can bury it or plant a tree on top of it in your back yard to commorate your birth if you don't want to use it.
B
post #13 of 45
12/4/06 at 1:31pm
If you bring it home from the hospital, do you have to put it on ice or something to transport it?

(Otherwise wouldn't it degrade? My hospital is 1 hr+ from home.)
post #14 of 45
12/4/06 at 2:19pm

transporting placenta

I would put it on ice for an hour drive.

As far as the hormones, they don't diminish with age and freezing/ drying.

I am surethat the hospital has a soda/ ice machine... You only need a small tupperware container for the placenta. They are not very big... cup your two hands together and make a bowl... your placenta can probably fit into them. ( if your hands are not toow small. )

Mine where about this size.
post #15 of 45
12/4/06 at 2:22pm

transporting placenta

I would put it on ice for an hour drive.

As far as the hormones, they don't diminish with age and freezing/ drying.

I am surethat the hospital has a soda/ ice machine... You only need a small tupperware container for the placenta. They are not very big... cup your two hands together and make a bowl... your placenta can probably fit into them. ( if your hands are not toow small. )

Both my placenta's where about this size.

When my midwife told me to get a container for the birth, I got this GIANT tupperware container thinking itwas going to be huge. It was really very small.
post #16 of 45
12/4/06 at 6:53pm
My placenta has been sitting in my freezer for 6 months. We keep saying we're going to plant it, but...well, it's likely to sit there since my old cat's ashses are still sitting in the urn on my dresser.

Can I defrost it and eat it? I'd actually rather do that than try to choose a plant or tree and all that. We don't have much of a yard.
post #17 of 45
12/4/06 at 8:28pm
Quote:
Can I defrost it and eat it?
I don't know about eating it at this point, but..

I have a frozen 2yr placenta.. my midwife assures me that I can freeze dry it, put bits into capsules at any time and it still retains its hormonal properties to use during menopause.

Barb
post #18 of 45
12/4/06 at 10:48pm
i ate it raw right after birth..a few bites. the rest is still in my deep freeze
post #19 of 45
12/7/07 at 4:49am
I cut off a little piece (about the size of a nickel) and dipped it in sugar and swallowed it like a pill. It didn't make me gag but that's because I really psyched myself up. "It's a gumdrop..."

The rest I encapsulated. we'll see, baby is 4 days old.
post #20 of 45
12/7/07 at 5:03am
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Pregnancy and Birth › Postpartum Depression › If you ate your placenta