Placenta Encapsulation

I haven’t written a post in a while because I’ve been busy with this little guy. Ben was born a little over three weeks ago, and he’s been nothing but sweet and wonderful!

Over the next few weeks I’ll do some posts on various pregnancy/baby related issues, including vaccines, birth choices and diet. But first I want to discuss something that will undoubtedly gross a lot of people out, but I’m into it, and want to share: Placenta Encapsulation.

Eating the placenta after birth is something that most mammals do, but why?

There are many reasons including, increased milk production, increase in mood (from oxytocin), prostaglandin which stimulates a shrinking or return to a former size of the uterus, iron, increased energy and more.

Here’s how it works. After giving birth, you call someone who is certified to do placenta encapsulation. I called Stacy Thompson, my friend and doula. In my case, Stacy came to the hospital, took the placenta, dehydrated it, and dropped it off at my house the next day in pill/capsule form. I took two a day for three weeks.

I used a midwife rather than an MD, and didn’t use any drugs, epidural etc. I had an amazing experience with Ben, and the recovery was great. I’m not sure how much of that I attribute to having a natural birth, or to the encapsulation, but the encapsulation certainly didn’t hurt.

The first time I heard about it, I was a little turned off myself, but as time went on, and I researched it more, it made total sense to do it.

It’s no surprise it’s becoming trendy in Hollywood among celebrities like January Jones and Tom Cruise, and it’s making its way more and more into the main stream.

Bottom line is, there is no taste, it’s easy, and the research clearly shows the benefits, so why not? Anyone who has given birth knows that any little thing helps when we’re talking about getting our bodies back, regaining energy, and maintaining our happiness and joy, during a time of little sleep, and no time for ourselves.