Sunday, January 9, 2011

Do-It-Yourself Placenta Encapsulation

After encapsulating my placenta for Little Brother, and learning about the benefits of placenta encapsulation, I decided to do it again with Baby Brother's placenta. You can read more about the benefits of placenta encapsulation here. You can find someone in your area to encapsulate your placenta, and pay them a couple hundred dollars to do it for you. Or you can do it yourself. (It's really not that hard, and kinda fun.)

To start, you need
-a placenta that has been kept refrigerated since birth (preferably only a few days old), or frozen and defrosted prior to encapsulating.
-fresh, organic ginger root
-fresh, organic orange or lemon
-fresh, organic jalepeƱo
-an encapsulating machine (I have one similar to this one)
-size 00 capsules. You can buy those here.

Then wash your placenta to get the excess blood off. I did mine in the kitchen sink, in a bowl. Here it is still with the umbilical cord attached. Don't use soap! Just warm water is fine.




Then cut off the umbilical cord and the amniotic sac.

Boil the placenta in filtered water with your ingredients for at least 30 minutes. I boiled mine for over an hour.




It will really shrink up after boiling.




Then cut it into pieces not more than 1" thick.




Then you want to dry them. You can do this in your oven at the lowest setting overnight. Just place the pieces on a cookie sheet and bake. If you have a dehydrator, you can use that. I put mine in the dehydrator on the "meat" setting (155*). Then I left it overnight. Here it is in the morning.




Then I ground it up. You can do this in a coffee grinder. I used my Vita-Mix dry blender (the one used to grind flour). If you have something strong that grinds flour, that would work too. I'm pretty sure they would be too much on a standard blender (*says the girl who has killed four blenders*).




You want it in a fine powder.




Then I got out my little capsule machine. You can find these at health food stores, or here. Mine takes size "00" gel caps, and I have some leftover from Little Brother's placenta, so I used those. You can also buy the gel caps here. I opened each capsule, and put the long end into each hole on the base, and the short end into each hole on the top.




Then I poured my placenta powder over the base.




Then I used this little green card (it came with my machine) to smooth all the powder into the holes.




I then used the tamper to push the powder down into the capsules.










Then I filled them again, and smoothed the powder out with the green card.
I pressed the top onto the bottom, and here's what I got:




Here's The Princess (she was my helper), proud as can be at our accomplishment. :-)





The main reasons I like placenta encapsulation are:
- Ingesting placenta postpartum really helps (naturally) reduce postpartum depression.

- (I think this is the coolest one!) You can save your unused capsules (freeze them in your freezer) for menopause. They act as a natural hormone replacement in menopause. And it's totally safe because it's your body's own hormones that you're using! I just think that is the coolest, and can't wait to use mine when I go through menopause.

I personally really noticed a difference in my postpartum disposition after doing this with Little Brother's placenta (I didn't know about this after The Princess' birth, so I didn't do it then). Even with my brother being murdered two weeks after Little Brother was born, I managed to not slip into a postpartum depression. Not that I wasn't deeply affected by my brother's death, but I truly believe in my already-vulnerable-state, it would have been much harder for me emotionally if I wasn't taking my placenta everyday.

There you go! Wasn't that fun?!?

23 comments:

  1. Because of you introducing it to me, I hired someone to do mine. She did it a little bit different but i've noticed a huge difference in my post-partum. I had a traumatic labor and birth and i'm am close to tears a lot. However, if i remember my pill I am less likely to lose it and i feel more normal. We did 2 episodes on the placenta if any of your friends want to listen to the experts. :) (also free on itunes)
    What is the Placenta:
    http://www.pregtastic.com/the-placenta-what-is-it-what-does-it-do/
    Placenta Encapsulation:
    http://www.pregtastic.com/the-benefits-of-the-placenta-for-postpartum-and-more/

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  2. I also encapsulated my own and then after seeing the benefits of placenta medicine I got certified and started to offer this as a service for other moms in my area. How you prepared yours is a bit different then the true TCM method, but no matter how a placenta is prepared I am happy to see it not being thrown out as trash, but being used to nourish the mother.

    If anyone would like to find a specialist in their area they can check out my directory of Independent Placenta Service Providers:
    http://www.avoidthebabyblues.com

    And there is also more info on the TCM method and benefits at http://www.PlacentaMom.com

    Awesome job mama!!!

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  3. Is the 250 count capsules a good amount? I am trying to decide between 250 and 500. I dont plan on using the capsules for anything else besides encapsulating my placenta so I dont want extra sitting around!
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Laura!

      I think if that's all you're using it for, 250 would be sufficient. Good luck! :)

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  4. What is the purpose of the lemon, ginger, and jalapeno?

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    Replies
    1. It's a Traditional Chinese Medicine recipe with the lemon, ginger, and jalapeno.

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  5. Your instructions say to boil the placenta, but I've seen some that steam it instead. Would you be able to say much about the differences between the two processes? Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. I don't know much about the difference as far as how the placenta turns out. The recipe I've always used is boil, but steam might work too. :)

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  6. I would like to do this process on my own, but I do not own a dehydrator, is there something else I can use instead?

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  7. Hi Jeanette!
    Yes! You can do it in the oven! You want it to be a really low heat, for a long time though. So if your oven goes as low as 150* or so, so that. If the lowest setting is 300* or so, then you'd want to prop the door open while it dehydrates. It will probably take overnight to do it. :) Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      Thank you for your reply! The lowest my oven goes is 170 degrees, so I hope that works.

      Delete
  8. I'm doing this and am super excited about! I had trouble getting my amniotic sac off of the placenta. Part of that may have been that it was still slightly frozen after defrosting in the fridge. Any advice for that for other people? Now that mine are almost ready......for how many weeks do I take the capsule and what time of the day is best? Any recommendations for when to start taking them and when to stop?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about the late reply! I usually just start taking them as soon as they are ready, and stop when I run out. I take 2 in the morning, 2 in the evening, or less.

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  9. Im wanting to do this but im pregnant with twins . should i take all the pills i get from it . or should i just do 1 placenta or both ?

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    Replies
    1. I would l do both! You'll get more pills that way.

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  10. Encapsulation does away with the need to cook, or add additional items ( lemon, spices)
    I have washed and removed cord and amniotic sack and simply dried the raw placenta. The rest is the same. the result equally as effective.
    Seems to me heat and cooking could alter the hormonal effect?! Nice step by step encapsulation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had wondered about this myself. As cooking veggies actually removes a lot of the vitamins. As long as it is still safe then I would dehydrate it raw instead! Thanks for the tip!

      Delete
  11. Hi mama,

    should a placenta be washed before I put it into the freezer? I plan to send my husband with placenta home after hospital delivery - but he won't be able to wash it and I don't know if I will right after the delivery. Or is it fine and I can wash it after taking it out of the freezer?

    Also, do you know how long I can store it in the freezer?

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have washed mine after removing from the freezer, so that should be fine.

      I have also stored my pills in my freezer for years. I honestly don't know how long they are technically "good" for, but I plan to use mine for menopause!

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    2. I have done research that suggest making a tincture to save in the freezer for years later for menopause. Also I've read it helps with baby teething and other kids ailments. It's truly amazing the health properties. And to think this is #4 for me and all of my other three were just thrown out by the hospital. I'm so glad that I found all of this helpful information at least this time around! :)

      Delete
  12. Do you use actual cut up lemon and orange pieces or just the peel? Thanks so much for your post! This has empowered us to go ahead and give it a try!

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    Replies
    1. I used the actual fruit! Glad to hear you are going to try it!

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