Eat My Placenta? Ewwww!
By Tine Reese
July 29, 2010Most people are initially grossed out at the mention of placenta eating, including my own husband. He’s heard me talk about it numerous times with my friends, and still shutters with an audible “ughhh” every time the subject comes up. Even I thought it was weird the first time I heard it mentioned, but as a woman who has suffered postpartum depression with both of my children, I only wish that someone had told me about it before I had my babies. Once you hear how and why it works, it seems like a much better alternative to anti-depressant drugs…especially once you realize it comes to you in the form of capsules taken just like you would any other pill.
Turns out that almost all mammals (don’t forget, we humans are mammals too) eat their placentas after birth. The placenta is a rich source of nutrition for the stressed-out mother’s body, in addition to it’s numerous hormonal benefits. Right after a woman gives birth, all of those highly-elevated levels of pregnancy hormones dramatically drop off, triggering depressive symptoms. Eating the placenta helps restore hormone levels and various vitamins such as B6. For a more thorough explanation of how all this works, check out Placentophagia: Benefits of Eating the Placenta.
Women using placenta remedies after birth feel stronger and happier and can breastfeed more easily. The placenta is a rich source of prostaglandins which help breast milk come in and quickly return the uterus to it’s original size. Two other beneficial effects of eating placenta are accelerated onset of maternal behavior and enhancement of pain relief. But most women say they decide to eat their placenta for relief of mood swings associated with postpartum depression and the “baby blues.”
I came across a funny article by Joel Stein called “Afterbirth: It’s What’s for Dinner.” He recounts his own experience when his wife decided she wanted to eat her placenta after the birth of their son. Fathers-to-be, this article is for you! And to top it off, he videotaped the placenta being prepared for capsules so that we can all see what we’re really talking about here.
Tawni Pargman
(509) 991-151
I had the recent pleasure of meeting Tawni Pargman who does placenta preparation for women here in Spokane. She does the work in her own home (unlike the video above) and can receive placentas from home or hospital births. Here is the information she provided about her services:
The Encapsulation Process
I receive the placenta refrigerated in either a Tupperware (from hospitals) or wrapped up in a few plastic bags. If you plan on my services, it doesn’t matter what it’s in as long as it is refrigerated. Do not freeze it unless you think it will be more than 5 or so days until you’re able to get it to me (or I can pick it up from you).
The placenta is rinsed in cool water, the cord and membranes are removed and then I slice it very thin with a very shap knife.
The placenta is dried at low heat in a food dehydrator until it is in the form of super crispy bacon. This usually takes a couple of days. I then grind it down to a powder in a food processor. Next I put all the powder into gelatin capsules* and it’s ready to go! Placentas vary greatly in size. Ihave had 150 capsule placentas all the way up to 300 capsules.
I use bleach to clean all my utensils and kitchen afterward.
I charge $60 per placenta and can mail the capsules back to your for an additional $5. Vegetarian non-gelatin capsules are available upon request for a small additional charge.
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Comments
Tawni does a WONDERFUL job! Very fast and professional. Beyond that, the capsules were SO helpful in my postpartum recovery! I only wish I would have had enough to last all year!
Thanks for sharing that! The placenta capsules look great! I love the way they are presented! I ate pieces of placenta raw after my son’s birth, because I assumed that encapsulating would mean some of the nutrients get lost. Is there any evidence of that?
Olivia
Olivia, thanks for your comment. I don’t have any specific information about the amount of nutrients in a placenta pre- and post-dehydration. Perhaps I’ll do some research to see if any tests have been performed.
A lot of the moms here in Spokane who have used the placenta encapsulation service mentioned in this article say they loved it. They had capsules left many months after birth, sometimes years, and found them helpful throughout the breastfeeding phase.
Tawni is great to work with. I learned about the benefits of consuming my placenta after my 3rd baby. I wish I had heard of it sooner as I had horrible PPD with him. Lucky for me I found out about it with my 4th pregnancy, and the differences postpartum were amazing. I had more energy, I had less postpartum bleeding, my milk came in faster, I didn’t even suffer much of the “baby blues” let alone full blown ppd like I had with my previous birth. I was so happy with the results that I had my placenta dried and encapsulated with my 5th baby too. I swear it is a life saver.
Tawni was fantastic! She even met us at the hospital and mailed the pills back to us. I couldn’t be more happy with her service.