For some reason when you mention the word placenta AFTER you have given birth, you get the strangest responses. Its as if once it has exited your body, its never to be spoken of again. I’m sure at one point even I had that same thought. Especially about eating it. I’m still not real keen on that thought. I don’t eat beef or pork and the thought of eating placenta just makes me think of raw meat. I’m not knocking anyone that decides to do it though. My stomach just couldn’t handle it(even in a shake. Its a mental thing). So I decided to not let my placenta go to waste…

I had it encapsulated. Here in Vegas, for $250, you have full home service. After I delivered my placenta and my midwife Allyson showed it to everyone, she put it in a gallon sized Ziplock bag and put it in the fridge. Funny story…my neighbor came up to see the baby and happened to go into the refrigerator for a drink. He of course saw the bag with the placenta in it,lol. He’s all “what is this?!” So I had to explain to him why there was a placenta hanging out on the bottom shelf. Anyway, 2 days after I gave birth, Marcie came by with all her things to prepare the placenta. She cleaned my entire kitchen counter and sink and got started. She separated the membrane from the placenta and squeezed all the blood vessels. It looked like she was giving it a massage. She cleaned it. And steamed it. She lost me there. Next time I saw the placenta was the following day(it had been cut and put into the dehydrator which she left here on a timer overnight). When she took the trays out of the dehydrator, the placenta pieces looked like beef jerky. She even put my umbilical cord in there after she had put it in the shape of a heart(which I actually used in my sons newborn photos). She put the pieces of umbilical cord inside a Magic Bullet and basically turned it into powder. Then she filled a bunch of empty capsules up(she had to use extra with me because my placenta was big). She made sure I had a dose before she left and I got an instruction sheet as to how many I was supposed to take. They look like capsules you’d get from the herbal store. Nothing weird. They don’t taste like anything. I’m on week 5 of them and I take 2 a day(you start with 5 days of 4 pills 3 x’s a day and taper down).

Now why on Earth would one have their placenta encapsulated you ask? Well, I will share with you why:

(From Placenta Benefits.info)

The placenta contains your own natural hormones and is perfectly made for you, by you. Experts agree that the placenta retains hormones. Reintroducing them to your system is believed to ease postpartum and menopausal hormonal fluctuations.

Your baby’s placenta, contained in capsule form, is believed to:

contain your own natural hormones
be perfectly made for you
balance your system
replenish depleted iron
give you more energy
lessen bleeding postnatally
been shown to increase milk production
help you have a happier postpartum period
hasten return of uterus to pre-pregnancy state
be helpful during menopause

There has also been scientific research- http://placentabenefits.info/research.asp

Did the pills work for me? I guess its kind of hard to say. Would I have felt differently if I HADN’T taken them? I didn’t seem to have any hormonal crying outbursts after I gave birth. I only had postpartum bleeding for about 2 weeks. I’m not quite 6 weeks PP and my uterus has returned to its normal size. Its not a magic pill but I think it helped even if only a little. I’d definitely do the encapsulation again. And if you can afford it, I’d also recommend it.