so i have something new to add to my "list of skills and experiences that very few other people have" - placenta preparation and encapsulation!
i was planning on doing this for my next placenta (due, with baby, in about 2.5 months) so i was really excited when my most recent clients said they wanted to encapsulate their placenta. they had ordered a kit from Placenta Benefits (http://placentabenefits.info/) after talking to the PBi lady at a gentle baby expo. the client ended up birthing the most beautiful placenta i have ever seen (bi-lobed with enormous healthy blood vessels and a very smooth maternal side - they looked like meaty fairy wings with a cord in the middle.) i took it home for her and put it in my deep-freezer - the OB and nurses at that hospital were totally fine with letting her have it. i took it back to the client to help prepare it during the pp visit but they said it suddenly seemed like a LOT of work now that they had this new baby person to take care of and did not own a dehydrator. they were going to give me their kit since they weren't going to use it but i knew how excited and informed they were about it before so i offered to do it for them.
the process was really interesting. its basically the traditional chinese method where you:
- wash and drain the blood from the placenta
- steam it
- slice it very thinly
- dry it in your food dehydrator
- grind or pulverize the dried strips to a powder
- fill the gel-caps with the placenta powder
you also prepare and shape the cord into a little dried heart that the parents can have as a keepsake.
all together it probably took about 4+ hours for me to prepare and encapsulate and around 30 hours to totally dry. i had previously done quite a bit of research on placenta prep so i was planning on just doing it my own way, but the Placenta Benefits kit was actually quite handy. it had very through instructions with pictures, disposable gloves, apron, and cutting mat, gel-caps, a little encapsulation machine and a number you can call to ask any questions as you are doing it. i ended up having a really great conversation with Jody, the PBi lady, for almost 30 minutes and am considering becoming certified in placenta preparation and including that skill in my doula services.
my client was super happy to have her placenta pills to help avoid ppd and help restore her energy and hormone balance. i was super happy to have the experience (and honestly i think i got a bit of a hormone high as i was preparing it - FYI to you other pregnant ladies or generally sensitive doulas). i'd love to promote placenta preparation as a doula skill and was wondering what everyone else here thought of that or has experienced.
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This is awesome information. I have been looking into this recently myself, but don't have a food dehydrator. My husband is also concerened that there would be a "human roasting" odor.
any suggestions or did your uber sensitive pregnancy nose detect anything?
Wow! that is interesting! and really great if you can do this and offer it too..
I would like to do this, but I couldn't do it.. I know it would gross me out, I did go through bad ppd, and don't want to go through this again!
This is awesome information. I have been looking into this recently myself, but don't have a food dehydrator. My husband is also concerened that there would be a "human roasting" odor.
any suggestions or did your uber sensitive pregnancy nose detect anything?
i did wonder about the smell issue since, pregnant or not, i have the most precise sense of smell out of anyone i know. actually the smell part was really interesting. when i first washed the placenta, it had the most wonderful "wild" smell of that newborn baby (as opposed to the "domesticated baby smell" a-la johnson&johnson). when you prepare a placenta you are supposed to hold your intentions in a healing way so the smell of that specific baby really helped me focus on her and the mama as i worked. the blood still smelled like birth - that iron-rich, oxytocin laden smell that comes off of laboring-well women and fills the room at birth. so if you can handle the smell of birth (minus the poo smell), i think you could handle the smell of placenta.
also, the placenta kit came with some myrrh that you put in the steaming water. TCM also suggests adding ginger and/or hot peppers to the water to concentrate the medicinal properties and a side effect is that everything smells exotic and good rather than "roasty." i could smell the dried blood smell a tiny bit in the kitchen while it was dehydrating but i don't think my husband or housemates really noticed. it would probably be a bit stronger if you dried them in the oven (another option for those w/out dehydrators) though i wouldn't think it would be more offensive than the smell of frying meat or something. but then again, they say that women generally enjoy the placenta smell while men have more of an aversion to it.
hypothetical question to jessica and others:
if you were interested in having your placenta encapsulated but wouldn't be into doing it yourself, how much would you think would be a reasonable fee to have it done for you? $50? $75? $100? would it make a difference if it was an optional add-on to the doula fee or just charged as a separate service?
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For that much work, I'd pay $100, plus the kit... and I would assume that any client who was interested in having it done would be informed enough to understand how much work it would be, therefore would be willing to pay that much...
I'm in MD and everything is more expensive here, but that seems like a very labor intesive process. I'd be willing to pay $250 or more for the benefits of no PPD and not having to do all of that by myself with a newborn.
The two midwives in my area who prepare placentas charge $200 and $250 respectively. The midwife who charges $200 will pick up the placenta from the client's house and deliver the capsules which is a huge benefit.
I mention this service to all of my clients.
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I have prepared a few with a friend/fellow doula who was doing it here in town. She has now moved away but there is someone else in the area who is doing it and charging $75.
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Julie
CD(DONA), LCCE, DONA Trained Postpartum Doula
I have prepared a few with a friend/fellow doula who was doing it here in town. She has now moved away but there is someone else in the area who is doing it and charging $75.
My thing about this is how in the world to get the placenta from the hospital??
As in if they would allow you to have it??
I have just had clients request at the time of the birth that they wanted to take it home. I probably wouldn't make a point of saying that they were going to have it encapsulated--the hospital may not like that idea and therefore may give them a hard time about it. Really everyone has the right to their placenta. Some people plant them under a tree or do other things with them.
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Julie
CD(DONA), LCCE, DONA Trained Postpartum Doula
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