Placenta Preparations
The placenta is the sacred organ grown through your pregnancy to nourish your baby. It is richly infused with nutrients and hormones that gave your child life. It is a powerful lifeline that can also give back to you.
The placenta has two sides. The maternal side is a porous membrane which during pregnancy connects to the wall of your uterus, allowing the flow of blood and nutrients between you and your baby. The baby’s side has a smooth pattern of blood vessels which resemble the branches of a tree. The umbilical cord and amniotic sac are connected to this side of the placenta.
There are several beautiful traditions done with the placenta to honor this life-giving connection- tree of life prints, plantings and post-partum supplementation.
Tree of life prints- One way to commemorate your pregnancy and this amazing connection which has fostered the arrival of your new little being is to have a Tree of Life print made. We will prepare a print for you in your home, using non-toxic inks and gallery quality paper. Or do it yourself. It is beautiful. Framed this makes a unique piece of art for your nursery or living room. (Unless you tell them, no one will know but you and your birth partners!) Multiple colors available.
I DO IT:
Print:$30 (multiples $15 each additional)
Framed: $125 (each additional frame $90)
D. I. Y. = FREE
Plantings- It is said that some groups of Native Americans believe that because of the mother-child connection the placenta is, even after birth it symbolizes an on-going path for the child to find its provider. For this reason, a sacred planting is a way some families honor the placenta. Simply keep your placenta and burry the placenta in your yard or somewhere that is meaningful to you and your partner. Place a tree or perennial on top of it, and ‘your child will always know his/her way home’.
(If you have a winter baby, freeze the placenta and burry it in the Spring. Dig hole at least 18 inches to dissuade any animals from participating in your ritual!)
(This is a great option for you to celebrate your pregnancy if even if you have to have testing done to your placenta due to complications. They will put formaldehyde on it and put it in a plastic bag. You can still burry it.)
D. I. Y. = FREE
Post-partum supplementation- Think of all the things you fed yourself during your pregnancy with your child in mind (dark leafy greens, more milk, meats, pregnancy vitamins), and all that you have/are abstained/ing from (alcohol free, drug free, smoke free). Your placenta is a reflection of this pure, nutrient rich time. It is the only organ in your body that you did not come into the world with when you were born. Now think of all of the hormones you have heard or read about which your body created to make your baby come into the world, through your pregnancy and birth. Your placenta is a store-house for all of these nutrients and hormones. As a result, ingesting your placenta is an invaluable supplement for you in your post-partum period. As Westerners, it is a mind-hurdle to move ourselves into this kind of thinking. You may be wondering if this like the hippies in Nor. Cal who were drinking their pee? Yes, we are suggesting there are benefits to ingesting your placenta, but no it’s not as freakish as it may sound. Apparently Chinese doctors have been prescribing this for centuries. For as far back as the 10th Century B.C. there are records that ingesting the placenta is beneficial for a mother after she has given birth. All mammals eat their placentas (except for the sea-faring and camels.)
Okay, so why would we, or should we, and how would I explain this to anyone who asks?
Placental ingestion is suggested for several reasons-
-The hormones and nutrients of the placenta enhance your milk supply.
-They combat post-partum depression. (Where as Prozac or Zoloft is a Serotonin- inhibitor with the risk of having the exact opposite effect of what it is supposed to do.)
-They quicken healing time of the lady parts. (Apparently, a touch of placenta on the gum will stop a post-partum hemorrhage.)
-They give you more energy.
-And, there is no risk in trying it.
If you have fears of PPD (post-partum depression), of which 80% of birthing women do suffer, keep your placenta.
If you want to insure optimal milk supply, keep your placenta.
If you want to heal fast and be ‘up and at ‘um’ a.s.a.p., keep your placenta.
STEP 1:
Keep your placenta.
STEP 2:
Pick your path. There are three paths here.
PATH 1: Fresh preparation. We will admit that even for ourselves, this was a mind fuck when we first heard about. (Pardon my French, and this is the only place you will see a swear word on this site.) But, it’s not as scary as it sounds initially. Erase any ‘Dances with Wolves’ scene that may have come to mind. That’s not what is prescribed.
We will prepare your placenta in ½ -a-pea sized bits to mix into fruit smoothies for the first fourteen days postpartum. (Banana, orange, mango is a suggested favorite. Avoid berries because your left brain will scream ‘chunk!’)
For homebirths if Ruby is your doula: FREE*
*(please speak to me directly if you are planning a lotus-birth)
For homebirths where another doula attends or for hospital births: $150
Path 2: Keep it, Freeze it, Decide Later. If you are on the fence about this- take your placenta and throw it in the freezer. (The Madison Hospitals will offer for you to see it and to keep it, if you want it, give it to you in a nice little bucket with a lid and a handle. If you are homebirthing, any Tupperware or plastic freezer bag will do.) If you are having troubles with energy, your spirits are low, you desire more energy, you aren’t healing as fast as you’d like to…Call us. You can always decide later, but at least you’ll have it. If you end up not using it you can plant it or dispose of it later.
FREE
Path 3: Encapsulation. Have Ruby come to your home to encapsulate your placenta in gelcaps. If fresh consumption is a little too hard for your left-brain to navigate (there is no-judgement here, by the way- absolutely none) this is a great option. Though slightly less nutrient rich, this is a fantastic way to give your body the nutrients and hormones of your placenta to nourish and charge you.
If you are Ruby’s doula clients: $175
Encapsulation alone: $275
List of Hormones in Placenta:
Oxytocin-helps relieve pain, enhances bonding, helps uterus contract to non-pregnant state, the 'love' hormone
TSH-(thyroid stimulating hormone) boosts energy and helps in recovering from stressful events
Interferon-stimulates the immune system, protects against infection
Prostaglandins-stimulates involution of the uterus post birth and acts as an anti-inflammatory
Hemoglobin-replenishes iron, which restores energy and helps prevent anemia, a common postpartum condition
Urokinase-reduces bleeding and enhances wound healing
Gamma globulin- immune booster to help prevent postpartum infections
CRT (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone) reduces stress
