Increase milk supply
Lower the incidence of "baby blues"
Replenish iron
Increase energy
Lessen postpartum bleeding
Balance hormones
Placenta encapsulation is the process whereby one's placenta is dehydrated, powdered and put into capsules for the mother to ingest. It is also possible for the placenta to be processed in such a way to be used in smoothies, salves, tinctures and other recipes (even chocolate placenta truffles!)
I decided to have my placenta encapsulated after the birth of my second baby. My doula also prepared my placenta to be used in smoothies that lasted for about one week postpartum. I have noticed that my hormones have been much more friendly to me this time, and I have not experienced the baby blues to the same extent as I did with Lily. It took me a very long time to feel human again with Lily, and I feel like I have gotten back to normal much more quickly with Kimberly. However, I am hesitant to say for sure that my mood is much better this time because I didn't really start feeling stressed out about motherhood until Lily was about four months old. That was when I was first starting to teach flute lessons again and leave her with sitters that I barely knew. It stressed me out to have to rely on people, and I always felt like I was burdening them. Now that I have gotten used to relying on other people, and it isn't the end of the world to do so after all, I am adjusting much better this go round with Kimberly. One of the biggest benefits that I am experiencing that I do not mind sharing is the increase of milk supply. Holy oversupply!!! Poor little Kimberly went through weeks of sputtering on the milk, usually late at night like clockwork. For the past two weeks, I stopped taking my pills, and we have not had any late night choking and sputtering problems. Then today, because I was feeling a bad mood coming on, I decided to take some. Guess what happened! After two weeks without them, the very day I take placenta pills again, we have choking and sputtering problems. Too much milk! I also can't take them after lunch time because I will be up all night. They give me so much energy.
Although placentaphagy (ingestion of the placenta by the mother) has a rich history of being extremely beneficial during the postpartum period and the benefits can be supported by ongoing research, it has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. I am not a health care provider such as a doctor, midwife, pharmacist or herbalist, so the service I am providing is the encapsulation of the placenta only. I do not offer medical advice or treatment, nor can I guarantee that the ingestion of one's placenta will ensure the purported results. Clients are responsible for doing their own adequate research regarding placenta encapsulation, as the information shared here is for educational purposes only and not meant to treat, diagnose or advise clients in any way.
Here is a list of a few places to get started on your research to decide if placenta encapsulation is right for you.
Placenta: The Gift of Life by Cornelia Enning
Placenta Benefits.info (PBi) Research & Articles
Articles about the UNLV Placentaphagy Survey:
Steamed, Dehydrated or Raw: Placentas May Help Moms' Post-Partum Health
UNLV researchers author first-ever scholarly report on experiences of placenta-eating moms
Las Vegas SUN Highlights UNLV Research (This blog post includes a link to where you can purchase a copy of the original article published in The Journal of Ecology, Food and Nutrition. A copy of the article costs $37 which makes me really miss having access to a university library.)
* Regular price is $175 with discounts given to doula clients. My first few placenta encapsulation clients will receive a huge discount, so contact me ASAP! This opportunity won't last long!
Email: keendoula@yahoo.com
Phone: (225) 229-4130
No comments:
Post a Comment