promotion and advocacy w/in hospitals

[raeben]

i'm trying right now to think through the best way to promote awareness of placenta medicine and traditions as well as help clients advocate for their rights to their placentas in the hospital systems in my area.

there is one hospital here in particular that really seems to give people the run-around and i am wondering the best ways to foster a positive placenta environment and not burning any bridges. i had one client tell her ob that she would sue if she didn't get it right away - that cut through the red tape pretty fast but it didn't do any favors for the cause. i have also had a dad or two "steal" the placenta and send it home with the doula or grandma - that served the immediate purpose of getting the placentas but i hope hospitals don't start putting security bracelets on the placentas as a reaction.

it's not unlike other aspects of doula advocacy - how do i make sure the clients rights are honored (whether its her rights to her placenta or to deny unnecessary inductions) without burning all of my bridges for future clients (like putting tighter restrictions on placenta release or banning doulas in that hospital).

i was thinking about sending a letter to the head of labor and delivery outlining the variety of placenta beliefs and practices as well as the benefits of placenta ingestion and how their policies and staff could better accommodate the wishes of their clients.

for those of you who regularly work with placentas, what sort of advocacy or communication do you do in your area, if any?

[TO Doula]

I think writing to the nurse manager is the right starting place. Talking about various rituals families have practiced is good too, but I'd be more hesitant to talk about encapsulation or any other form of ingestion. I'm concerned that as it becomes more common it may draw more attention from regulators. I would be particularly inclined to avoid the word "medicine" when talking about it. If they decide that we're prescribing something when we do not belong to a profession that has prescribing privileges it could get ugly.

I've never actually had anyone refused their placenta, unless there was a concern and the hospital wanted it to go to pathology. It certainly helps to be ready to go. I carry a couple of large, freezer-strength ziploc bags in case a family decides they want theirs and they didn't come prepared. Some nurses will help out with packaging up the placenta, but others won't, and you need to take care of it promptly or else they'll just take it out of the room along with the instrument tray some time within the first 30-40 minutes after the birth, even if they family has said they want it.

So now I'm thinking about what kinds of placenta uses could go in that letter without triggering legal concerns?

-burying in the garden and planting a tree over it (that one seems to be very well accepted by those who are otherwise grossed out by the whole topic)
-print-making
-what else?

[amymaew]

Clients can always say it's a religious preference. Hospitals, at least around here, don't argue with religion.

[raeben]

about half of the hospitals around here keep the placenta refrigerated in pathology a week or more before they release it but this one hospital keeps it for 15 days sometimes! if they are going to keep it for that long it needs to be frozen (if they still want to have good medicine from it) and they always ask why. i always tell my clients that they don't have to say what they want it for or to just say something about philosophical or religious beliefs but then the nurses are like "well then it should just be fine if we refrigerate it like normal and you can burry it or whatever after ___ days"

i feel like, at least at this one hospital, placenta ingestion needs to come out of the closet. i do worry about negative reactions and more restricted policies being set but i already have so many clients loosing their placenta rights at this hosp that i do feel the time has come to try to build a bridge or something.

[Falling Leaves]

hi raeben,
how did it go? did you write the letter or do something else? have things changed in this hospital?