Who's going to eat the placenta?

[amitymama]

I never thought I'd be saying this but I'm seriously considering eating some of the placenta. Not raw, mind you, but in a smoothie or cooked with something else. I haven't broached the subject with DH yet though I've casually joked about it in passing so he knows it's something I've at least heard of and considered.

So tell me...who is going to do it? How are you going to prepare it? What are your reasons for doing so? What are you must looking forward to and what are you nervous about, if anything? Is your partner supportive of your desire? Will you tell anyone else or keep it a 'secret'?

Fess up, ladies! :

[nashvillemidwife]

I would have it encapsulated. I never thought it was something I would do, but I am at risk for severe postpartum depression.

[pazerific]

to each his own, but for me personally, no way. i get why ppl do it, i just couldn't stomach it, no matter how it was hidden in food or prepared.

[Changed]

I'm looking into having it encapsulated as well. I don't have any issue with swallowing some raw but the benefits don't last as long as if you had capsules to take.

[nashvillemidwife]

Is it because you can take the capsules over an extended period of time? I assumed that drying and grinding it would actually destroy some of the beneficial properties.

[jaceycat24]

i am doing it through capsules. i am using this site either for her to do it for me or to do it myself. not sure yet. http://www.placentabenefits.info/

[the_lissa]

I have done it in the past and will do it in the future.

I put it in smoothies. I have also read that drying or cooking can destroy some of the benefits.

[thixle]

I'm doing it! I have a friend "who ain't skeerd" to prep it, he's dressed deer before.
I plan on doing smoothies-- Oj, strawberries, and raw placenta : I also plan on freezing leftovers to drink for the first few days.
Of course, everyone who wants to help prepare it wants to taste it, too... so I think I'll let them keep a bit to cook. By everyone, I mean Dh and the friend.

And nope, a few weeks ago, I never would have dreamed of it
From what I've read, well, it can't hurt, and I want it as fresh and fast as I can get it. And "the boys" are so grossed out by it they just have to see what all the fuss is about.

[RoseDuperre]

I'm torn between planting a tree and donating it to a CBE for educational purposes.

[barefootpoetry]

I'd like to freeze chunks and make smoothies out of them. This all depends on whether or not DH is willing to chop it up though, cuz no way could I do it.

[amitymama]

Originally Posted by barefootpoetry

I'd like to freeze chunks and make smoothies out of them. This all depends on whether or not DH is willing to chop it up though, cuz no way could I do it.

Heh. See, that's my problem. I think DH will be okay with me doing it but there's no way he'll be the one to prepare it. He gets queasy just watching ER.

I wonder if it would be beyond appropriate boundaries to ask my doula if she'd help?

[Changed]

Well see I don't know. I worry that the heat will mess with the properties of it too but I read that you get to use it so much longer by drying it. I don't see what you can't do both. Placentas are huge afterall! I only cut off maybe an inch last time and I could have still had a TON to dry and encapsulate. I don't have a food dehydrator so I'm trying to figure out how to do it. I know it'd be easier to slice when frozen but again, I wonder if freezing would harm it's benefits.

So much to learn about placenta consumption!

[the_lissa]

Yeah doing both would be cool.

[Meche]

Your doula might just know someone who does placenta preparation and encapsulation. That's what I'm planning with mine. Once I get over the mental block. That I will actually swallow the pills. Myself.

(See, I believe in the benefits, but am having a wee bit of an issue with the upcoming reality.)

[Sasha_girl]

I'm more comfortable with encapsulating than I am with eating it raw or cooked (I'm queasy about meat in general).

I haven't decided either way, though. I still haven't ruled out a Lotus birth.

[lc81002]

Nope, not my thing. I might consider eating a tiny piece if I was bleeding a lot or something, but other than that, once it's delivered I'm done with it.

[njbeachgirl]

Totally going to do it. A little grossed out. I'm going to either do the smoothie or encapsulate it. My main concern right now is who is going to help me with it. I wonder if my MWs do that at all. I feel like I dont want to let it sit too long yet right after birth I want to be bonding with my family not sticking my placenta in the blender with some fruit. There is no way anyone in my family will even consider it, DH is the only one I told about it and he is thoroughly grossed out. Everyone else in the family thinks those kind of things belong in the biohazard container

I am doing it because I had ppd with my first child and am at risk for having it again, and because I just had an all around rough recovery with her as far as pain, bleeding etc. and I'm hoping this will help. (Also I am planning a homebirth this time, and hopefully can avoid tearing and be more comfortable emotionally in my birthing space).

[JorgieGirl]

My sister has graciously offered to make me a smoothie. I'm quite excited really! Initially I wanted to plant it, but don't really have anywhere it can go.

My sis is also pregnant and I'll be making one for her as long as mine goes well, she says. :

[Sasha_girl]

For those who are going the smoothie route--how much do you use? Do you just hack off a hunk, rinse it off, and throw it in the blender? What's it taste like? I mean, I add fish oil and stuff to smoothies sometimes and can't taste it, is this the same way?

[the_lissa]

No I couldn't taste it, which is why I went that route. I put 4 or 5 approximately one inch chunks, a s imilar amount of strawberries (to hide the red colour), a banana, milk, and yogurt.