If you are curious about the placenta encapsulation process, why I decided to do it and whether or not I’d do it again if we have another baby, read on!
NOTE: This probably goes without saying, but my decision to encapsulate my placenta was a personal one and may not be right for you. Please do your own research and speak with your doctor before making any decisions regarding your health and healthcare.
When I was pregnant with Chase, I was surprised how anxious I felt and how much I worried about the health and safety of our baby. I read a lot about pregnancy, hormones, postpartum depression and baby blues and since I had my fair share of anxious feelings during pregnancy, I was concerned about how I might feel after Chase was born both from a physical and mental standpoint.
Years ago, before Ryan and I were even remotely thinking of trying for a baby, I remember reading about Caitlin’s experience with placenta encapsulation on her blog. To be honest, it creeped me out just about as much as it intrigued me but it planted a seed in the back of my mind and sparked my interest.
Thanks to blogging, Caitlin became a good friend of mine over the years, so when I eventually got pregnant and we moved an hour away from her, I reached out to Caitlin to learn more about her firsthand experience. She was very positive about the process and the way she felt after giving birth and recommended a local encapsulation service to me.
From there, I started to do my own research and spoke with my doctor about placenta encapsulation. My doctor was supportive of my desire to encapsulate my placenta and that made me feel more secure in my decision.
Why Did I Decide To Encapsulate My Placenta + Benefits
First, it is important to note that there are no large, well-controlled studies out there that report on the effects of consuming the placenta after birth nor have any studies been performed to provide insight into the correct dosage or frequency placenta pills should be consumed for optimal results.
Though placenta consumption is gaining traction in the United States, it is still not a popular practice in Western society but it has been a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries. Placenta encapsulation has been used to alleviate anxiety and fatigue and replace lost iron and nutrients in postpartum women, among other benefits.
The ‘evidence’ supporting placenta consumption is largely anecdotal and historical. Reading this during my research left me feeling a little concerned but as I continued to look into the pros and cons of placenta encapsulation, it became quite clear to me that the possible benefits greatly outweighed the drawbacks, which seemed to center around the fact that encapsulating the placenta seems gross, can be expensive and freaks a lot of people out if you decide to share your decision with others. According to the American Pregnancy Association, “placental encapsulation appears to carry no inherent risk if ingested solely by the mother,” so if it is safe, could help me feel better after birth and my doctor was on board, I figured it was worth it for me to try.
The benefits of placenta encapsulation appear to be numerous and include:
- Restoration of iron levels in the blood
- Increase in milk production
- Increased energy
- Increased release of the hormone oxytocin, which helps the uterus return to normal size and encourages bonding with the infant
- Increase in CRH, a stress-reducing hormone
- Decrease in postpartum depression levels
How Did I Have My Placenta Encapsulated?
I had my placenta encapsulated by a professional who was certified in placenta encapsulation through PBiU. During my stay at the hospital, my doctor and nurses were aware that I wanted to keep my placenta to have it encapsulated and after delivery, my placenta it was stored for me at the hospital until I was discharged. I then took it home with me to store in the refrigerator until the specialist came to our house to encapsulate it the day after I arrived home from the hospital. (The specialists we worked with did a great job of providing detailed instructions for every phase of the encapsulation process.)
A quick note: At many hospitals, your doctor must sign a medical release form to allow you to bring your placenta home while some hospitals consider the placenta bio hazardous waste and will not allow the placenta to be released to the patient, so definitely discuss this with your doctor ahead of time!
Once we were home, the placenta encapsulation specialist came to our house and, over the course of two days, dehydrated the placenta, ground the placenta down to a fine powder and placed it into pills. The placenta often yields between 100 and 200 pills and the number of pills consumed daily will vary.
How Much Did It Cost?
Prices for placenta encapsulation range but after following a group of specialists in the area, I monitored their Facebook page and paid for the service when they were running a special. I paid $175 and received a discount for booking early on in my pregnancy. Most encapsulation services I’ve seen seem to cost $250-$300.
How Did I Feel? Would I Do It Again?
All things considered, I felt pretty darn good after birth. I do believe that, in retrospect, I had a fairly easy delivery which should not be discounted, but aside from the exhaustion that comes along with feeding an infant every two hours, I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised by how good I felt after birth, both from an emotional and physical standpoint. This does not mean things were picture perfect – of course I still had some highs and lows – but overall, I can say I felt better than I expected to after Chase was born. Do I think this had to do with consuming my placenta? I have no idea… But I will absolutely do it again if it can have even the slightest positive effect on me physically and mentally after labor and in the weeks following delivery.
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I am glad you had a good experience with this. I had a baby about a month after you & was definitely considering this. However, upon researching, I read something that made sense to me. It was along the lines of the placenta leaves the body & is not meant to be re-ingested. I also read it *might* possibly bring on autoimmune disease, which is something I just didn’t want to chance. Just wanted to give some food for thought. I know people have great experiences with it. I just felt it was not right for me.
Funny, the argument that “it leaves the body and is not meant to be re- ingested” does seem to make sense to my human brain, but that’s not the case for other members of the animal kingdom . The majority of mammals will consume the placenta after giving birth…it provides enormous amounts of nutrients to the mother at a time she needs it most. One could argue that these vitamins and minerals are readily available from other sources in our modern society, but that argument doesn’t negate the possible advantages of consuming the placenta. Interesting to see the merge of modern society and ancient practices!
I’m a college librarian so I did some research on this in peer reviewed journals. One prominent placentophagy researcher hypothesized that humans may have stopped this behavior. Citation and abstract below! (I also put a few other interesting article abstracts further down in the comments section, FYI):
Young, S. M., Benyshek, D. C., & Lienard, P. (2012). The Conspicuous Absence of Placenta Consumption in Human Postpartum Females: The Fire Hypothesis. Ecology Of Food & Nutrition, 51(3), 198. doi:10.1080/03670244.2012.661349
The absence of human placentophagy, the maternal consumption of the afterbirth, is puzzling given its ubiquity and probable adaptive value in other mammals. We propose that human fire use may have led to placentophagy avoidance in our species. In our environment of evolutionary adaptedness, gravid women would likely have been regularly exposed to smoke and ash, which is known to contain harmful substances. Because the placenta filters some toxicants which then accumulate there across pregnancy, maternal placentophagy may have had deleterious consequences for the overall fitness of mother, offspring, or both, leading to its elimination from our species’ behavioral repertoire.
Thanks for posting this. There have been studies, and it isn’t beneficial. This “trend” may be benign, but let’s not pretend the science doesn’t exist to show that there is no use.
Would be nice of you to quote, link, or reference said studies, CL, before leaving curious readers on a cliffhanger of feeling deterred without any tangible reason other than your facade of being more knowledgeable on the matter.
Isn’t the overarching belief that the reason other mammals consume the placenta is not due to nutritional value, but to get rid of any trace of childbirth to deter predators? This is simply my opinion, but as someone who has worked with animals most of my professional career, this theory aligns mostly with animal behavior, as a protective instinct, versus a way to boost overall health….there is not really any evidence of other similar animal behaviors to support this, meaning survival instinct is almost always the underlying reason for an animal’s behavior. I suppose one could argue that eating the placenta because of it’s nutritional value would be considered a survival tactic but animals’s also eat feces so…there’s that. To each their own!
I didn’t encapsulate because my placenta had issues during my pregnancy due to pre eclampsia and getting nutrients to my child. That coupled with the fact that no true medical studies have been done turned me off from it.
You don’t have anything to compare it to, so you can’t really know if it helped or not. I also felt like in many of the stories I read, it was almost like a placebo effect.
Placebo effects are a beautiful thing! As a nurse, the less medications you can take, the better!
Placebo or not, isn’t a benefit still a good thing? Who cares if it came from the actual pills or the belief that the pills helped.
Thanks for sharing, Julie! Definitely something I will keep in mind for the future!
Glad you shared your thoughts on this! It’s something I could definitely see myself considering in the future!
This is such an interesting topic for me. I researched quite a bit after my second child was born, as I dealt with PPD/anxiety for a long time after him. My body rejected traditional medication, so it was a LONG, scary healing process. I was planning on encapsulating years later, when I was expecting my third, but we unexpedtedly moved cross-country just a few weeks before she was born, so I had neither the time nor energy to work it all out in our new state. Thankfully, My third experience was much like my first, and I experienced zero PPD/anxiety (truly, the hardest part was working through a bit of anxiety that I WOULD develop it).
We are finished adding to our family now, but if I were to get pregnant again, I would still plan on encapsulating. Having been through storm, I am open to researching ANYTHING that could potentially help. Certainly a personal decision, and I appreciate you sharing your story. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! This was great insight! I also did a lot of research about doing this myself and ultimately decided against it bc I couldn’t get over the squeamish feeling I got when actually thinking about doing it. I mainly wanted to bc I was terrified of postpartum depression. I actually loved being pregnant and was incredibly nervous to actually be a mother.
Turns out- I LOVED being a mother and did not suffer and baby blues at all. I also felt amazing after my pregnancy and birth despite the fact that I had a fairly complicated labor experience that ultimately ended in a c section.
Because of all this I most likely will continue to stick with my decision to not encapsulate my placenta in the future, but I still appreciate hearing about your experience. I’m sure others will as well since I was constantly searching for info regarding this topic when i was pregnant.
I’m so glad everything went so well for you after birth! That is wonderful to hear, especially since you were so nervous about motherhood. <3
It is ironic you posted about this today because over the weekend I was telling a group of girlfriends that when I have children I will most definitely encapsulate my placenta. The potential benefits seem to good to pass up! Thanks for sharing this with us!
This is fascinating! I dont know what I will choose to do but its pretty awesome what options are available!
How interesting! Thank you for sharing, I had no idea this was a practice. I think anything that helps you or could help you through post-pregnancy is a positive thing. Good for you for sharing and doing what felt right : )
https://thedogtribe.com/2016/07/12/chocolate-almond-granola-bars/
I just have to play devil’s advocate and say to do your research before spending the money. Check the sources of the “research” too – the NIH has stated there is no benefit. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/news/releases/Pages/062615-podcast-placenta-consumption.aspx
Thank you for sharing this! The study mentioned is a relatively new one that I did not see when I was doing my research last year and it’s definitely interesting. The doctor interviewed also mentions that we really don’t have any concrete evidence to support the claims made by advocates, nor do we have any evidence to inform the risks (which I stated above, as this was absolutely a concern of mine!) but says her main concerns related to consuming the placenta center around women choosing to avoid evidence-based treatment for postpartum depression (and only relying on the placenta pills) rather than actually consuming the placenta. I enjoyed reading this and thank you for sharing!
I’m a librarian at a college so I did quite a bit of research on this when I was pregnant in 2014-2015. I just did a little more digging around. There is a researcher at University of Nevada Las Vegas that is doing a placebo controlled study of this currently. She has also published two peer-reviewed articles recently. I’ll copy citations and abstracts below.
Young, S. M., Gryder, L. K., David, W. B., Teng, Y., Gerstenberger, S., & Benyshek, D. C. (2016). Human placenta processed for encapsulation contains modest concentrations of 14 trace minerals and elements. Nutrition Research, 36872-878. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2016.04.005
Maternal placentophagy has recently emerged as a rare but increasingly popular practice among women in industrialized countries who often ingest the placenta as a processed, encapsulated supplement, seeking its many purported postpartum health benefits. Little scientific research, however, has evaluated these claims, and concentrations of trace micronutrients/elements in encapsulated placenta have never been examined. Because the placenta retains beneficial micronutrients and potentially harmful toxic elements at parturition, we hypothesized that dehydrated placenta would contain detectable concentrations of these elements. To address this hypothesis, we analyzed 28 placenta samples processed for encapsulation to evaluate the concentration of 14 trace minerals/elements using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Analysis revealed detectable concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, rubidium, selenium, strontium, uranium, and zinc. Based on one recommended daily intake of placenta capsules (3300 mg/d), a daily dose of placenta supplements contains approximately 0.018 ± 0.004 mg copper, 2.19 ± 0.533 mg iron, 0.005 ± 0.000 mg selenium, and 0.180 ± 0.018 mg zinc. Based on the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for lactating women, the recommended daily intake of placenta capsules would provide, on average, 24% RDA for iron, 7.1% RDA for selenium, 1.5% RDA for zinc, and 1.4% RDA for copper. The mean concentrations of potentially harmful elements (arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, uranium) were well below established toxicity thresholds. These results indicate that the recommended daily intake of encapsulated placenta may provide only a modest source of some trace micronutrients and a minimal source of toxic elements.
Young, S. M., Gryder, L. K., Zava, D., Kimball, D. W., & Benyshek, D. C. (2016). Presence and concentration of 17 hormones in human placenta processed for encapsulation and consumption. Placenta, 4386. doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2016.05.005
Human maternal placentophagy is a rare but growing practice in several industrialized countries among postpartum mothers seeking a variety of purported health benefits attributed to the practice. These postpartum mothers typically consume their placenta as a processed, encapsulated supplement. To determine whether free (unconjugated) steroid hormones and melatonin in placenta can survive the encapsulation process (namely steaming and dehydration), we analyzed 28 placenta samples processed for encapsulation using liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to evaluate the concentration of 17 hormones. The results revealed detectable concentrations for 16 of the hormones analyzed, some in concentrations that could conceivably yield physiological effects.
I want to do this too but it grosses all my friends out when I tell them! haha Oh well, to each their own!
Such an interesting post! I was considering it while pregnant and asked my dr’s opinion. While she didn’t discourage it, she did point us towards on article on the NY Times about the practice and how it doesn’t seem to actually do anything. Since I was on the fence about it, we decided not to do it. I felt wonderful after having Emma (aside from the usual pains of pushing a baby out of your body 🙂 ) and didn’t regret not doing it. It’d be interesting if you could share how often you took the pills and the quantity and how long you took them after giving birth.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I know that it’s a tricky subject and everyone has their opinions but you made an informed, thoughtful decision for you and your baby and that’s all that matters. It’s always intrigued me and I think I’d like to do it if I were to have a child as well. I really appreciate you walking through your decision process and experience!
I have to say I am so surprised you did this. I kept checking to make sure I was really reading pb fingers and not mama natural lol! Thank you for sharing your experience! So glad it was a good one. ?
This was a very interesting read, since I’m in that category of people who are creeped out by the thought of ingesting it. But it’s fascinating to hear all the potential benefits because I had no idea!
I love this post! TTC at the end of this year!
I have also read there is no firm evidence that it helps… But in my opinion if it doesn’t hurt you, why not try it?! I have already decided that I will encapsulate my placenta as well. A few friends were confused, but I think that this is about as organic as you can get.
I’m so glad you chose to share this! I am expecting my second child currently and will be going the route of placenta encapsulation this time because of the PPD I experienced after my first.
Thanks so much for sharing Julie! I’m trying to decide if I want to do this when baby T comes! Do you know if most insurances cover it?
I honestly didn’t look into insurance, but I highly doubt it would be covered since it’s not a traditional practice. I know a lot of alternative medicine/care is not covered by insurance, so I would assume this would fall under the same umbrella but I’m not positive!
I was thinking that’s what it would be, but I wasn’t for sure! Thank you for your response.
Thanks for sharing your experiences about something so controversial! I considered encapsulation and ultimately decided against it, but appreciate hearing from those who chose to explore the potential benefits. If we have a second baby, I’m sure I’ll revisit the issue and review the links in your post as well as some of the other research readers are noting here. Good discourse.
Thank you for this comment! I know that my decision was a personal one so I tried to share my experience from my point of view and really appreciate the way those with opposing views/thoughts are commenting in a knowledgeable and respectful way. So nice to see!
Everyone can make their own person decision, however I think you need to put more factors into why you felt so great after pregnancy.
1) you’re young
2) you’re very fit and have been active/into sports/fitness for very much of your life which leaves you with a strong and heathy body
3) you seem to have no health issues (but of course I can’t speak to your personal health)
4) you do not seem to have a history of serious depression (again just going by what’s on the blog)
5) you have a strong support system including your mother living with you for quite some Time after birth
6) you and Ryan seem to have a nice stable life which allows you to focus more on your baby and your own health.
I think it’s important people not just buy into the hype of something when there’s really nothing to support it either way. People have been surviving just fine without doing that as well. I’m curious to see if people who do consume the placenta still suffer from PPD etc.
You are absolutely right! I think it’s very important to pay attention to your body and your health and made an educated decision based on your personal needs. I would definitely not rely solely on placenta encapsulation for the treatment of anything as serious as PPD and also do not believe it can prevent it from occurring but if it could possibly help me feel even a little bit better after birth (and help with milk production), I figured it was worth a shot for me. I, too, would also love to hear from more women who have tried placenta encapsulation and hear more about their experiences since it is still not very common.
I was actually about to comment the same thing. You had a tremendous support system immediately after giving birth. The days when my mother came over were the best days during my postpartum time. The days where I was totally alone were the worst.
You also didn’t have to return to a traditional job soon after giving birth. I just feel that if you are going to talk about how you felt taking your placenta, you need to include your circumstances of recovery as well. Those play a greater role than many others, including ingesting placenta.
I actually had all those factors working in my favor and suffered from pretty awful PPD and anxiety and ended up taking Prozac for 10 months after birth. The flux of hormones and chemical imbalances do NOT care if you have good support, if you’re young, if you’re healthy, if you’ve been depressed before, if you’re poor or rich, etc. Those things may impact your experience in transitioning to motherhood, but are not at all things that make you immune to post partum disorders. I’m not saying anyone knows for sure the benefits of encapsulation or whether that made a difference…it’s impossible to say that. But we can’t perpetuate a myth that PPD and other disorders are dependent on good circumstances surrounding the mother.
I didn’t perpetuate ANY myth. Julie, a mother who as far as we know did not have PPD, shared her own story about placenta encapsulation. Her post mentioned feeling “great” after birth. My comment was on the post about feeling great after birth. Nowhere did I say that having your mother stay with you to visit or having a healthy body would prevent PPD. Those things do have the potential to help someone feel great. Just like placenta encapsulation.
I didn’t say that having that support automatically means no PPD. I had support, and I still ended up with PPD.
But for Julie to not acknowledge that one of the reasons she did feel great is due to many other factors isn’t fair or accurate. Plus, she has NOTHING to compare it to. She’s a first time mom so she doesn’t know if it did make a difference or not.
Brittany I 110% agree!!!
No kiddos over here yet, but this is fascinating for me! I’m definitely going to consider it when it’s our time!
Wow, thanks for being so open about this.
I’m from Newfoundland, Canada and I have never even heard of the process so it’s definitely something to keep an open mind to / research.
I actually ate my placenta raw! I had a smoothie with fresh placenta a couple hours after birth and then froze the rest in small chunks. I had probably 5 smoothies total!
I agree that we will never truly know if it helped or not but I do feel like I healed quickly and I lost my appetite after birth and only wanted smoothies anyway! I figured the extra placenta nutrients couldn’t hurt.
I also believe that every woman should take a peek at the placenta. It was your babes first home and it’s truly amazing to see.
Did you have to do anything special to the raw placenta before you ate it? Wash it a special way, dry it out for a few hours? Or is it fine as is?
No, just kind of pat it dry with some paper towels and cut it up. The umbilical cord is still attached and I left that out because it seemed a bit too “chewy” hah.
I looked in to encapsulation but I wasn’t weirded out by eating it raw and this way was free.
I was more weirded out by not really knowing the conditions the placenta would be in during the encapsulation process.
But seriously – the crazy things you don’t think about until you get pregnant, right?!
We just got married this past week and – while we’re not even thinking of a baby at this moment – it’s always good to be in the know before jumping into these major life steps.
Thanks for being transparent and sharing your experiences!
XO, Jessica
http://www.semisweettooth.com
I was seriously contemplating placenta encapsulation when I was pregnant with my baby boy, as I was anxious that I would suffer from PPD. I ultimately decided against it, but the lady who does encapsulations in my area was wonderful and very supportive! I found it frustrating that there wasn’t a lot of research/studies conducted on placenta encapsulation, you would think that there would be more information and research based on the amount of potential benefits!! Glad that you had a good experience with it 🙂
Any updates on the baby carriers? My family is headed to Ireland in a couple weeks and I am in the market for a baby carrier. I was looking at the Ergo 360. Have you used it for hiking and do you like it?
Please do a post on you and ryan’s relationship after baby. I am also interested to see his side of your mother living with you for several months post birth.
You couldn’t have written about this at a better time! I am currently doing research on placenta encapsulation. I’ve heard so many amazing things about it. Thanks for sharing your story <3
Thank you for sharing your perspective! I don’t know anyone personally who has done placenta encapsulation, so it was interesting to read about your experience. We’re thinking about babies in the next year, so I enjoy reading your thoughts about everything pregnancy/baby-related. 🙂
Let me rephrase that. “Just like some people claim that placenta encapsulation may do.”
Thank you for writing this! I also encapsulated my placenta and would (will) 100% do it again. My concern wasn’t with PPD, but more with milk production and hormone balance. Like you, I was active throughout my pregnancy and planned to remain active after I gave birth, because of this (and because I am small breasted and thin* AND knew many friends who had lactation issues, especially with their first child), I was concerned that I would have a hard time making enough milk. While I also question the placebo effect, I had an amazing post-birth experience and no issues with lactation/depression/mood/etc. I know that anecdotes aren’t “science” but my son lost no weight at the hospital, and I was producing plenty of milk by the time I left the day after his birth. I ended up not even taking all of my pills, but took 2-4 a day for the first 6 weeks. I didn’t use any other galactogogues (promote lactation – oats, brewers yeast, etc) until I went back to work and was pumping.
*I know that breast size has no shown impact on ability to breastfeed, but this was my crazy pregnancy brain being SURE that I would ‘fail’. If anything, having my placenta available gave me piece of mind, and for $150 that is worth it to me!
I considered doing this as well, but honestly just never got around to seriously thinking about it! I can see the pro’s and con’s, and I think it is an amazing benefit for sure. I really struggled with baby blues and a small bout of what we now think was PPD after A was born, and I would love to do some more research to see if ingesting the placenta would help level out my hormones or anything! Thank you for sharing your story, and your experiences. I loved reading about it, and will definitely think more about it for our next child! Don’t let random commenters who can’t leave their whole name discourage you 😉
I also encapsulated my placenta and would do it without a doubt if we decide to have another baby. My little one was born at 33 week, so we spent 8 weeks in the NICU with our little. Part of that time we lived 2 hours from our home in family housing where the NICU was. Thankfully, my husband remembered about me wanted to encapsulate the placenta while I was in labor (there was no cause determined why, just my body went into labor early). He helped make sure the lady came to pick it up for the pills shortly after labor. Honestly, I was a wreck while my daughter was in the NICU and had an amazing milk supply. I took my placenta pills over the course of the first 3 months of my daughter’s life. Once I ran out of pills I saw a HUGE change in both milk production (reduced) and my moods got significantly darker. I cannot possibly imagine going through the NICU without being supplemented by my placenta to help regulate my hormones/moods a bit. That was my choice and my body.
I would say, everyone has different experiences, different bodies and different children. Let’s all just support one another.
I had my placenta encapsulated as well, and will do it again! I had great results with it, and like you, I was nervous about feeling anxious or depressed after delivery. My husband was not on board with it because he thought it was gross, but he wasn’t taking the pills so I didn’t care!
Thank you for posting about this! I would also like to chime in too! I asked my midwife about this and she didn’t really say that she recommended it or not, but one thing she did say to be mindful of if we decided to was to watch for my (the momma’s) mood. She has experienced mothers where it did affect them negatively where their hormones became more out of the norm. Bad enough that they had to discontinue using the pills. For that reason, we decided not to encapsulate, but I did appreciate that I had the option to discuss it with my midwife and learn more about the process.
Obviously it has a different affect on every momma, but just another piece to keep in mind!
I had my placenta encapsulated as well. I have a history of severe depression so I was really concerned with PPD. I felt pretty great overall after having my baby. I truly think it helped with my mood and my energy. I will definitely do it again. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I’m glad you wrote about this – and that you had a positive experience!
I remember reading Caitlin’s post on this, and while I was pregnant, I just KNEW I wanted to encapsulate my placenta. However, where I live, there aren’t any facilities, and I ‘m not even sure my hospital would’ve released my placenta in the first place. Bummer. I think the lack of supporting evidence is a good reason NOT to do this, but since there’s not really any HARM in doing it, I feel like “why not?” is a good enough reason to try it (if you have the resources).
I had some PPD and anxiety (in hindsight, I realize this) and some supply issues at first when my son wasn’t removing milk sufficiently, so I wonder if this would’ve helped some?
I absolutely loved this post! I’m so glad to see more of this! So many people haven’t heard of this at all or just don’t understand the reasoning behind it.
I work with an acupuncturist in the clinic I work in and when I told her I was pregnant with my first, she suggested this to me. I did all my research and made phone calls to potential “placenta encapsulators.” The woman I chose was fantastic and was very well known in the Madison area! Even the nurses and docs knew her at the hospital I gave birth at.
Long story short, the experience all around was great! I started taking my capsules the day I left the hospital. I’m someone who has a history of anxiety and depression. I’m also a very sleepy and tired person. While taking the placenta capsules, I had energy, when I woke up every two hours at night, yes I was tired, but could get up and just go.
Milk supply, holy cow, literally! I had so much milk, I could’ve donated! (I was on an anti-anxiety medication so it wouldn’t be accepted).
When I have a second child, I am DEFINITELY doing the placenta encapsulation again!
I struggled a lot with PPD with my first son (now 2) and had not considered placenta encapsulation with him. Fast forward two years to my second son (just 3 months old), and I was willing to try anything to keep from having crippling depression and anxiety for months. So I looked in to it! Sadly I live in the boonies and the only choice I had in the area wouldn’t travel as far as the hospital I went to. (I thankfully haven’t had the same struggles with depression this time around.)
As far as it being a placebo effect, the placebo effect is very real and can have REAL physiological effects even IF THE PARTICIPANT KNOWS THEY’RE TAKING A PLACEBO. That has been studied and supported a lot. (Here’s one really interesting study on migraines and the placebo effect: http://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/migraine-study-reveals-the-power-of-placebo/)
So as you say, Julie, if it’s not harmful and possibly has a positive effect, placebo or otherwise, more power to you!!
I encapsulated my placenta with my 1st baby but not my 2nd and my recovery was exactly the same both times: 10 days of intense baby blues (no PPD thank goodness!), supply issues after 4 months and weaned by 9 months because my milk was zapped. I was so excited about the benefits but I wasn’t sure how effective they were, and for me personally I don’t think it made a difference. Oh well!
I’m only 21 and not thinking about having kids right now, but this was very interesting to read! I appreciate you being so honest and sharing your experience. I’m happy this worked out so well for you- definitely something I want to keep in mind for the future. Thanks Julie!
Thank you for this post! I literally was just reading another post I think from pregnant chicken blog, and the reviews were so positive. I didn’t really know it was possible and after reading how much energy people had and how they were able to ward off more serious symptoms of PPA/PPD I wish I had known. I’ve been struggling with both all year and placebo effect or not, anything that could help, why not! Glad you had such a great experience!
Thank you so much for sharing this! Your post was very informative. I had always imagined consuming the placenta to be more like Khaleesi eating that heart on Game of Thrones – haha! This definitely takes away the yuck factor. I will definitely look into this when I have a baby one day. If there are no negatives then why not try it out for potential benefits. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks so much for sharing! I suffered from PPD and anxiety after my first pregnancy and after reading this, I’m definitely going to look into encapsulation when we have our second. I’m really scared of having to go through the same thing again so anything I can do to help is 100% worth looking into no matter how squeamish it might make me! lol
I did not encapsulate with my first, and did with my second. I would absolutely do it again and recommend it to anyone! Call it placebo effect, call it whatever you want…all I know is that I felt drastically different after my second child. There were quite a few factors that contributed to having a better experience the second time around, but both births were c/s and I experienced major baby blues the first time around and nothing out of the ordinary the second time around. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I’m so glad that you were willing to share this with your readers! I am currently pregnant, and I really appreciate you talking about these kinds of personal topics 🙂
The CDC has reported on a case of a mother whose baby was found to have neonatal GBS infection, thought to be related to the mother’s ingestion of her placenta via capsules (see CDC website). Point being it is definitely not without risks and could harm your baby.
THere are literally no science behind ingesting your placenta. in fact the CDC actually doesnt recommend it. As a scientist i would assume there is a placebo affect going on. If you want to believe the ingestions help then mentally it might.