So, how does this work?
How is it you became a placenta encapsulator?
Placenta Encapsulation has become much more common in Los Angeles in the last couple of years. No longer are doctors and nurses shocked to hear you say you want to take your placenta home. In fact, they may even ask you if you plan to and will have a release form ready for you to sign when you say yes.
Some hospitals require certain blood tests be done prior to the release of your pacenta. Please be sure to find out from your care provider and/or your hospital which, if any, are required and be sure to have them done before you have your baby.
When you arrive to the hospital, inform your labor and delivery nurse that you wish to have your placenta packaged and kept on ice or in their refrigerator until it is picked up. Most hospitals are ok with this, however you should plan to bring a medium sized cooler to keep in the trunk of your car should your hospital require the placenta to leave the hospital shortly after delivery (this protocol is fairly new and can vary from hospital to hospital and even nurse to nurse.) This way, the nurse can provide you with ice for the cooler and the placenta can be stored in the cooler in your car where it can be kept cool and fresh until it is picked up, if necessary.
If you are in labor during the day, have your designated contact person contact me to let me know. If you are in labor and/or deliver in the evening or the middle of the night, have your designated contact person contact me the following morning and I will come pick it up. (If you are working with a doula, I may ask her to take it home with her and I will pick it up from her there.) Then I will take your placenta to my home where I will dehydrate and encapsulate it using the strict OSHA guidelines and standards for sanitation. My timeline for getting the capsules back to you is usually 1-3 days.
Should your placenta need to go to pathology, ask your nurse to put a "NO FORMALYN" label on it to avoid it being contaminated. Contact pathology the next day (your nurse can help you know how to do this) to coordinate the release of your placenta.
Certain hospitals have unique protocols such as not releasing your placenta until you are released. Please be sure to check to see if YOUR hospital has protocols you should know about when you complete your booking form.
Should your placenta be rendered unusable due to infection, the full fee will be refunded to you.
Quite by accident, actually!
When I first became a doula in 2007, occassionally couples would ask me about placenta encapsulation. Back then, I couldn't really wrap my head around it. In fact, I was pretty
"I feel very fortunate to be able to provide this service to women to help make their early weeks home with their new baby as beautiful as they should be!"
skeptical. But my clients who were doing it and taking these little capsules felt great and I began to think, "Hey, there must be something to this!" I started to read about about the benefits, the same benefits I was noticing in my moms taking placenta capsules ~ great milk supply,
plenty of energy, emotional stability and an easier overall postpartum recovery ~ and I thought, "ok, let's give this a go!" Anything that might help make the adjustment and transition to mother-hood a little easier, I could get on board with. I started preparing placenta capsules for my clients and the response was over-whelming! Before too long, I was encapsulating
placentas for clients and patients of doulas, doctors and midwives all over Los Angeles since then, I have
encapsulated over
1,000 placentas
I admit I'm intrigued,
but it makes me a bit squeamish!
Maybe so. But what if your placenta were whisked away and brought back to you in capsules that made your transition into mother-hood just a little bit smoother?
Hesitant?
I totally get that!
This may be the first you're hearing about placenta encapsulation. Of course you're skeptical! Talk to your mom friends. If they didn't do it themselves, they surely know someone who has!
Why is everyone
saying this is so great?
Maybe it's because they have experienced first-hand the benefits of placenta encapsulation. This practice is becoming more mainstream everyday!