The lovely Rachael from Mamatoto Birthing has written this guest blog for me. Rachael is a local placenta encapsulator in Lincolnshire and here she shares with us why you may want to consider keeping your placenta following the birth of your baby. Those of you who know me will know just how obsessed I am with placentas and just how wonderful they are, it’s something I would love to train in one day myself if I get the opportunity but for now I always recommend Rachael’s services to my clients. Ok! Over to Rachael….
So, you’re pregnant and you’ve thought about baby names, the furniture you’ll get for the nursery, the travel system you’ll buy, the beautiful little outfits you’ll get them (maybe you’ll twin!) and you’re starting work on your birth plan, have you thought about what you’ll do with your placenta?
Many cultures around the world hold the placenta sacred and have many traditions and rituals post birth involving the placenta, in some parts of India the placenta is buried 9 days after the birth and this is when the baby is officially named.
Placentophagy (the practice of ingesting the placenta) is also a ritual that goes way back in time and is now almost becoming mainstream.
Although there is little clinical evidence to prove the benefits of consuming your placenta (clinical trials cost a LOT of money and when there is little to no money to be made back from this you can see why the info is lacking!) but the anecdotal evidence speaks volumes and there have also been a few trials led by the JENA university in Germany (https//www.ncbi.nlm.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6138470/)
I originally came across placenta encapsulation when I was pregnant with my first, I was classed as ‘high risk’ to develop postnatal depression and I was willing to try anything to ward it off. After a pregnancy induced insomnia late night Googling session I came across placenta encapsulation and was fascinated. I researched for a few more days and then took the plunge and booked in with a local encapsulator.
My eldest’s birth was quite traumatic after a failed induction and then emergency caesarean birth, when I received my placenta capsules 3 days after I was eager to start them. Although I had nothing to compare it to then I can honestly say my recovery was fantastic and I never even had a hint of the baby blues. Fastforward 19months to my next little one’s birth and I not only had placenta capsules but also a placenta smoothie! I have to admit that placenta smoothies are a bit of a marmite subject for people but I absolutely loved mine, I felt so energised within minutes of drinking it. It was after the birth of my second I knew I wanted to train as a placenta encapsulation specialist and help as many birthing women as I could.
In December 2018 I completed my training with the International Placenta Encapsulation Network (IPEN) LINK, a world leading company in placenta processing training and I also completed training in Infection Control, Food Safety Handling and Hazard Analysis. Because placenta capsules are made for consumption then every placenta encapsulatorlegally has to register with their local council and have an inspection of their premises, protocols and cleaning processes. I’m very proud to be the only encapsulator in Lincolnshire to have been awarded a 5 star food hygiene rating!
So, why should you encapsulate your placenta and how can it help you?
During birth a woman loses between one tenth and one eight of their blood volume, mostly from where the placenta has separated from the wall of the uterus, consuming your placenta can help you heal from this in a number of ways. The placenta is rich in stem cells which can heal on a cellular level and in some cases speed up healing time(women have reported bleeding for as little as 5days following taking their placenta capsules, it also contains iron (I was told I’d need iron tablets post birth after a haemorrhage with my second but after a week on my placenta capsules my numbers where back up to normal) which can massively help if you’ve been diagnosed as anaemic, vitamins B6 and B12 which can help with energy and corticotropin-releasing hormone, progesterone and prolactin.
So, how do I work?
When you book in with me I’m on call for any questions or queries you have whether you’re 8weeks pregnant or 38. We all know how quickly little worries can snowball into bigger ones when we’re pregnant if we don’t get answers straightaway so I hope I can alleviate some of that. When you get to 36weeks then your placenta chiller pack will be delivered to you which contains everything you’ll need to store your placenta until I collect it and also paperwork and information leaflets for you, your birth partner and your midwife on how to handle your placenta (birth partners: don’t worry, you won’t have to see or touch the placenta if you don’t want to, this will be done by the midwives). After this I can always schedule in a videocall with you and your birth partner to go through everything or answer any more questions we have. Next we play the waiting game! I ask for birth partners to give me a quick heads up when you go into labour and then another call when baby arrives so I can come and collect your placenta within 12hrs (it’s usually within 30mins – 2hr and the chillerpack has a life upto 15hrs so no need to panic!)
After I’ve collected your placenta then you’ll have your remedies back and ready to take within 48hrs.
The remedies I offer are steamed or simple capsules, simple capsules being more known for their energy giving properties and the steamed for their mood and hormone stabilising properties, placenta smoothies (these have the highest concentration of stem cells of any placenta remedy), placenta essence and placenta tincture which works on healing on a vibrational level and is particularly good to use during the menopause or when your menstrual cycle returns. I also have trained in bespoke skincare and am able to make a range of Mother and Baby skincare products along with a personalised placenta oil for you to add to your products. High end skin serums and creams have for a long time used animal placentas as an ingredient as it has a rejuvenating effect on the skin, so instead of paying £200 plus to rub a sheep’s placenta into your face you can pay a fraction of that to have your own oil made for you!
So please when you’re writing your birth plan, include a line of what you want to do with your amazing placenta!
Rachael x
You can find out or or contact Rachael here…
http://www.mamatotobirthing.co.uk/ http://www.facebook.com/mamatotobirthing http://www.instagram.com/mamatoto_birthing
Comments