Placenta encapsulation is one of the hot new trends in birth, although the idea of eating the placenta is hardly new. Nearly all other mammal species do it, including those that are otherwise complete herbivores. There are a number of theories as to why this is – the placenta contains hormones, which are said to ease post-birth complications. It’s also highly nutritious, which can be critical if you’ve just given birth. And some people postulate that by eating the placenta animals are hiding the evidence that there are new babies around, which may attract predators.
Image credit – Herb Mother on Flickr
Whatever the reason for it, consuming your placenta is something that is catching on in crunchy birth circles. My friend Gina, a.k.a. The Feminist Breeder, makes her case for it in “What’s the Deal with Placenta Encapsulation?” Although most of the benefits are anecdotal at this point, as more moms talk about it, it’s only likely to become more common. By encapsulating the placenta you can take it like a vitamin, instead of actually cooking it up and eating it, which makes it much more palatable for most (if not all) moms.
Roxanna
I interviewed Roxanna Farnsworth, a Certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist, and Dr. Monika Poxon, a psychologist and mom of two who had her placenta encapsulated and consumed the pills following the birth of her second child a little over six weeks ago. If you’re at all curious about what’s involved in placenta encapsulation, you’ll want to listen to this week’s podcast:
I’m planning a surprise for next week’s podcast – I hope it works out! No matter what, though, I promise you there will be a great conversation worth tuning in for. Subscribe to my podcast in iTunes and you won’t miss a minute!
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Thanks, Amber for this great interview. I am 15 weeks pregnant, and want to encapsulate my placenta and am looking for someone to do it for me int he Montreal area!
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Twitter: AmberStrocel
says:
Good luck!
Twitter: BirthingKristen
says:
This is fabulous! I chose to encapsulate my placenta after my third son’s birth and had a great experience with it. Even so, I learned so much from listening to this podcast! Thanks so much, Amber, Roxanne, and Monika for doing this.
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Twitter: AmberStrocel
says:
I learned a lot, too. There’s clearly a whole lot more to the placenta than meets the eye.
I have to admit, despite being a rather crunchy mama – in the natural birth, midwife, breastfeeding, cosleeping kind of way, I am pretty clueless about placenta encapsulation, and was a bit wary at first though I know it’s growing more popular (with humans, as animal are already ahead of the trend). I recently found out a friend of mine does this as a side job and I was so surprised, and very curious about the process. Although I’ve missed the boat on any placenta consumption, thanks for this informative podcast!
-Dana
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