How to Choose Placenta Encapsulation Services
Many people in our care are interested in natural lifestyle choices and alternative medicine. For that reason, many moms-to-be want to know about placenta encapsulation services and placenta supplements. In this blog, we’ll talk about what placenta encapsulation services are, what the benefits of placenta Encapsulation services are, and what an umbilical cord keepsake is. If you are curious about placenta supplements, then this is your place to get information- right from the midwives themselves!
What are Placenta Encapsulation Services?
Placenta encapsulation services are provided usually by a doula, midwife, or another birth worker. The placenta is the organ that allows for the exchange of nutrients, blood, and waste during a pregnancy. It is implanted into the mom’s uterus and provides the baby with everything it needs to grow and develop during a pregnancy. After the baby is born, the placenta comes out, and then each family can decide what they would like to do with the placenta. The custom of placenta encapsulation is new because with placenta encapsulation, the placenta is made into pills. Consuming the placenta, usually raw or as a cooked meat, is not a new practice. For thousands of years, people have been eating their placenta after birth and many mammals eat their placenta after birth. Placenta encapsulation services mean that someone will take your placenta, cook it with healing and postpartum herbs, and then dehydrate it. The herbs are meant to be antibacterial and to encourage blood flow, so they are good herbs to have right after you’ve had a baby. The placenta is dehydrated and then ground into a very fine powder. At this step in placenta encapsulation services, the placenta is put into capsules for the mom to take. The capsules do not have a flavor and do not taste like a placenta. They look like tiny vitamins that you can take for the weeks after your baby is born. This is the bulk of placenta encapsulation services and how it works.
Benefits of Placenta Supplements
There has been very little research to investigate the benefits of placenta encapsulation services and placenta supplementation. However, just because something does not have strong research to back it up doesn’t mean it is not true. There are many women who have reported significant effects from their placenta encapsulation and placenta supplementation. Here are a few of the benefits people report. Women experience an increase in the release of the hormone oxytocin, which is the hormone that helps the uterus cramp down and encourages bonding with the baby. Oxytocin is referred to as the love hormone because it’s released during orgasm, bonding, breastfeeding, laughing, and childbirth. It is the hormone that makes us feel connected to one another as humans. There is an incredible amount of oxytocin in the placenta during the birth and immediate postpartum, so women who consume their placenta report an increase in feelings of oxytocin after the birth of their baby. Many women also report that when they did placenta supplementation they felt a decrease in stress hormones. This makes sense because oxytocin and stress hormones have an inverse relationship; it is harder to feel stressed when oxytocin is high, and it is harder to feel oxytocin and love when stress is high. Women who have taken placenta supplements also report a decrease in postpartum depression levels. This is really important because postpartum mood disorders are a major problem in the United States and many women experience postpartum depression and/or anxiety. For our clients who have experienced postpartum mood disorders in the past, we often suggest placenta encapsulation services as a possible treatment. Many of them report that when they took their placenta supplements, they felt a significant difference in their postpartum depression. People also report after having placenta encapsulation services that they have a better milk supply, which is very important for most new moms. The placenta is also iron-rich, which means that it can help to recover all the blood lost during labor and delivery. Even if someone had minimal bleeding after the birth, there is still a lot of blood lost as a normal function of birth, so recovering from that with an iron-rich placenta supplementation is a great step to recovery from birth.
What are Umbilical Cord Keepsakes?
Umbilical cord keepsakes are a sweet and personal way to remember your baby’s time before you met them. The person doing your placenta encapsulation services may offer umbilical cord keepsake services as well. Usually, this means cutting the umbilical cord very long (on average they are about two feet long, so you have a lot of material to work with!) and drying it in a nice shape. Some people choose swirls, hearts, or another shape that they enjoy. The cord is dehydrated into the shape and then given to the family to keep. Some people frame their umbilical cord keepsake, others put it in a time capsule or in a memory box. Others just put it above the mantle to remember the time when they were pregnant and waiting for the birth of their baby. For many people, the transition to having their baby and not being pregnant anymore is a remarkable and hugely transformative event, so having an umbilical cord keepsake to hold onto can be very meaningful.
Professional Encapsulation Services with Hearth and Home
Hearth and Home Midwifery provides professional placenta encapsulation services. Usually, when we are at a birth, we take the placenta with us when we leave and process and dehydrate it, then bring it back to the family on day three. For clients who are not birthing with Hearth and Home Midwifery, we can arrange pick up and delivery of the placenta supplementation. If you think you are someone who is at risk for postpartum depression or anxiety, low milk supply, or postpartum blood loss, placenta encapsulation services might be for you! To learn more about our services, contact us here.
