I remember hearing about
placenta consumption (also called placentophagy) years before I had any
children. Frankly, I was disgusted. Having never been a big fan of meat
eating in any form and having lived as a vegetarian for much of my
teens, considering eating an organ that my own body produced and then
discarded was simply beyond my comfort level. The fact that many mammals
consumed their placenta did nothing to persuade me.
What did persuade me however was
how overwhelmed I felt when I found myself with the blessing of an
unexpected fourth pregnancy when my third baby was just about a year
old. At that point I had been pregnant or nursing for about six years
straight. Our life as a family had included change and upheaval, as it
often does during the transitional times of life. Rather than being
excited, I felt overwhelmed and I knew that I was lacking the emotional
and physical energy needed to properly care for both myself and my
growing family.
The postpartum transition had
always been a rough time for me. Though I never considered myself
someone who suffered from serious postpartum depression, I was worried
that in my depleted state, I would be less than the mother I wanted to
be.
I, probably like many women,
found myself very emotional postpartum, particularly on the third or
fourth day when my milk would come in. After four pregnancies, the first
three with an excess of weeping and wailing postpartum, I decided I was
willing to try something as alternative as postpartum placenta
consumption.
So, after my fourth baby, my
midwife almost immediately helped get my placenta prepped and I was on
my journey to becoming a genuine supporter of what I had once found
repulsive – placenta consumption. What happened postpartum surprised me.
I had heard some people claim wonderful results from this practice, but
since I couldn’t find much research on the subject, I wasn’t expecting
concrete or obvious differences in my postpartum recovery.
The surprise was this: I had the
happiest postpartum recovery I could imagine. There were no unexplained
emotional tears or cry fests when my body adjusted to the post-pregnancy
state. I felt absolutely wonderful and better than I could have ever
imagined. I had energy and I was almost giddy with joy. Rather than
tears, there were giggles and euphoria. My husband, who had laughed at
me initially when I had mentioned that I “might” eat my placenta,
noticed a huge difference in me. Eating my own placenta wasn’t something
that I told everybody about – it does sound a little strange. But if
somebody found out, I wasn’t embarrassed. I could truly say that it was
totally worth it.
So, let’s discuss some of the
reasons why women consume their placentas, how you can do it and who can
care for it.
The WHY of placenta consumption
The practice of placenta
consumption in the modern day is not yet very well researched, so many
of these benefits can’t yet be proven scientifically but are those
reported by women. I deeply value the wisdom of birthing women, and
found their experiences to often mirror my own. In order to find what
the majority of women find the most beneficial, I contacted Jodi
Selander, the founder of the website Placenta Benefits.info to see what
her experience was. She said that, “Women tend to report an increase in
energy, an increase in milk production, and an overall feeling of
well-being and calm after taking their placenta in capsule form. We have
conducted a peer-reviewed research study on women’s experiences with
placentophagy, and that data will be published this year in an upcoming
edition of the Food, Ecology & Nutrition journal.” I am so excited that
we will soon have more research supporting what many women have found to
be true.
My personal experience with
placenta consumption really highlighted the following benefits:
Emotional well-being: Many women
notice that placenta consumption really helps ease the postpartum period
and the emotional roller coaster that is sometimes experienced. In my
case, all my babies were wonderful natural births, yet the only one
where I experienced no postpartum hormone crash was my fourth, where I
consumed the placenta. Sometimes women say that their partner is not
supportive of placenta consumption or is disgusted by it. We must
remember though that anything that eases the post-pregnancy transition
is going to benefit the entire family, not just the new mother. This is
something that the partner and other children will all enjoy and
appreciate. Although I have to admit, it was the one thing I ate that no
hungry children wanted to share with me!
The easier emotional transition
while consuming the placenta may have to do with the ingestion of
hormones present in the placenta. The placenta is also an organ meat,
and as such contains vitamins and iron. Personally, I struggle with
anemia frequently, but especially during pregnancy. The nutrients
present in my placenta may have been a big factor in my improved energy
and emotions.
Improved milk production: Some
women notice an improvement in their milk production when they consume
their placenta. This is no small thing for a woman who strongly desires
to breastfeed her baby. I recently helped prepare a placenta for a woman
for just this reason.
Good for the earth: Mammals
often consume their placentas, and yet we as humans are often appalled
by the thought. One important factor in my decision to ingest my
placenta was a realization that came to me when I looked at the other
supplements that I would take if I didn’t go the placenta route. As I
read the ingredients, I discovered that many of them were made of animal
organ meats. Why consume a supplement that requires bottling, shipping,
and the environmental impact of raising and slaughtering an animal when
I could get the same thing and know exactly what was in it? The answer
seemed obvious: Using my own was going to have the lowest environmental
impact of all. Even vegan supplements require shipping and bottling and
other environmental factors. Using my own placenta was not only easy, it
was all done within my own home. Normally postpartum, I was taking huge
amounts of B vitamins to help regulate my moods and give me energy.
During the time that I took my placenta powder, I felt no need. I was
simply happier.
The HOW of placenta preparation
There are a variety of ways to
prepare the placenta for consumption. I just want to give you a brief
description of each so that you can look into things and decide what
works best for you. It is probably best to prepare the placenta as soon
after the birth as possible. If you are birthing in a hospital and there
are a few days between the birth and when you go home, it is generally
recommended that the organ be refrigerated or frozen (depending on the
time lag between birth and preparation) then thawed before getting it
ready. Check with your care provider before the birth to be sure that
there are no problems with you taking it with you when you leave.
Totally raw: Some women plan on
consuming the placenta immediately after the birth in order to minimize
blood loss. (This is another one of the possible benefits of placenta
consumption.) This can easily be done by just cutting off a piece.
Frozen: Another very simple way
to consume the placenta is to rinse it, remove the membranes and cord,
and then cut it into cubes and freeze. If you enjoy a morning smoothie,
you can easily throw a piece into your smoothie each morning and mask it
with some berries and a banana. This is fairly simple and quick and has
the benefit of having no cost involved.
Raw dehydrated: After the
delivery of the placenta, it can be rinsed, the membranes and cord
removed, and then sliced into small pieces and placed in a dehydrator.
If you don’t have access to a dehydrator, then it is possible to even do
this in your oven on very low heat with the door propped open a few
inches.
When you dehydrate the placenta
like this, you can grind it into a powder and then encapsulate it. For
most people, this is probably the best way to prepare the placenta
because taking it in pills really removes any “ick” factor. You can
grind it as simply using a mortar and pestle or you can use a high
powered blender, a spice grinder, or a coffee grinder.
The raw dehydrated method was
how I chose to prepare mine. It was fairly easy to do postpartum and
consuming it did not bother me the way a totally raw meat would have. In
preparing one for a friend, I found that it was fairly easy to find an
encapsulating kit and empty pill shells at my local health food store.
The encapsulating kit costs about twenty dollars and can be reused again
if you make your own supplements with herbs from your garden.
Even if encapsulating isn’t an
option for you, you can simply consume the ground powder by adding it to
juice. It sounds a little gross, but that is what I did. It didn’t
bother me because I felt so great every day after I drank my morning
orange juice with placenta powder that it was well worth the “plug the
nose, throw back the juice” ritual.
Traditional Chinese Method:
Another way of preparing the placenta is the traditional Chinese method.
This involves steaming it with herbs before the dehydration process.
Though you could do this yourself with a little research, it may be
worth hiring somebody if this was your method of choice. After the
steaming, the placenta is also dehydrated and put in capsules for easy
consumption.
Of course, some women choose to
do a combination of some of the above, possibly consuming some just
after birth in a smoothie to prevent bleeding, then preparing half in
the traditional Chinese method and half using the raw method. You will
know, with some thought, what sounds best to you.
WHO should prepare your
placenta?
Women often ask me how to find
somebody to prepare their placenta. There are a variety of ways. In my
community, there are a few midwives and doulas who offer this as a
service. Some are trained through a certifying organization like
Placenta Benefits.info. Some are simply women who have read about or
experienced the benefits of placenta consumption in their own lives and
want to share that service with others.
I think one of the benefits of
hiring somebody to prepare your placenta is that you and your family
don’t have to deal with work that requires standing and some food type
preparation just after childbirth. It can also be wonderful for a new
mom to have somebody – maybe an experienced mother or birth worker –
come to her home and just be there to assist and answer questions during
the tender postpartum period. The person who takes care of your placenta
may also be the listening ear you need or the person with just the right
advice to help with your babies latch as your breastfeeding relationship
grows.
When I asked Jodi Selander,
owner and founder of Placenta Benefits.info, what the benefits of hiring
a trained encapsulation specialist was, she pointed out a few more
things that I had not known. She mentioned that a specialist is trained
in how to properly and safely prepare your placenta. She also mentioned
that if you were to have any problems, they carefully look into them so
that their specialists are as professional and helpful as possible. This
is a wonderful option and they do have placenta specialists all over the
world, if that seems to meet your needs the best.
Another option is to have family
help you with the preparation. Often a supportive partner has no problem
cutting up the placenta just after the birth and getting it ready for
you, especially if they know how important it may be to the mother and
the benefits that she may experience.
I was grateful for my midwife
who, immediately after the placenta delivered, got it ready and going in
my dehydrator. It does take a little bit of time to get everything
ready. Though it isn’t excessive, it is not something that any woman
should be doing just after birth. The powerful birthing woman deserves a
little time to rest and connect with her baby while others care for her
and her needs.
I ground my placenta myself the
second day after the birth. Again, it took about fifteen minutes and
wasn’t a problem to accomplish. If you were planning on encapsulating
the ground powder, then it would be helpful to have a friend or hired
professional take care of the process since the encapsulating takes some
time, even if you have purchased a kit.
Again, loved ones would be
capable of helping with most of this with just a little instruction and
some dedication.
The cost of hiring somebody
usually runs around a few hundred dollars if they are available locally
for you. For many women this is well worth the peace of mind, the help,
and the loving little things that they sometimes do. (Some will do a
placenta print for you or other small but kind gestures that may help
add some fond memories as you look back on the sacred time of birth.)
But if you are a mom for whom
finances are tight, it is possible to do this yourself with only a
little help from your loved ones. I felt the benefits of placenta
consumption were so noticeable in my life that preparing the placenta of
friends is a gift that I love to give them postpartum.
After my own experience with
placenta consumption, I found my mind to be very changed. This is no
longer a strange ritual that animals practice. Placenta consumption made
a miraculous difference in my postpartum recovery. Never again will this
be something that makes me wince when I think about it. Rather, this
practice made what I was worried would be my worst recovery yet, better
than I could ever imagine.
I hope that more women will find
the joy and the ritual behind this ancient practice. While we are
advanced beings capable of amazing things, we too can benefit often from
turning back – towards the earth, towards our roots, and toward
recognizing the healing power of the literal tree of life, the placenta.
May your journey be filled with
joy, peace, and love as you welcome your children into the world.
Sarah Barre Clark is a mother of
four children, ranging in age from seven to one year. She also enjoys working as a natural childbirth educator and
helping other couples find the joy possible in euphoric birth. She is a board member of the birth education company Birth Boot
Camp (birthbootcamp.com) which offers live and online classes. She loves writing and can often be found blogging at
www.mamabirth.blogspot.com about birth, motherhood and all that is
involved in the fun and the work of being a mom. She is married to a chiropractor and lives in Northern
California.