All things placenta.....Post your Placentas here!

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Permalink Reply by Mandy Gibbs on June 10, 2009 at 5:31am

Here you go lady...I finally managed to get my placenta up here for you to see and LOVE!!

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Permalink Reply by Carrie Jeroslow on June 11, 2009 at 10:29pm

I did Placenta encapsulation and I am a HUGE advocate of it. I had severe PPD due to having to have an emergency c-section (after 50 hours of labor at home) and as soon as I took the placenta pills, I started feeling better. I then got thrush and had to stop taking them (they should not be taken with any kind of infection or cold) and felt the difference instantly. Unfortunately my thrush lasted months and I had to work through the hormone crash in other ways. Check out placentabenefits.org for more information!

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Permalink Reply by Jyn Meyer on June 12, 2009 at 1:46pm

I had a very short birth (1.5 hours) with my 3rd baby- here was his placenta both fetal with most of the amniotic sac and umbilical cord and maternal side (that attaches to the uterus).

I think they're so beautiful- it's amazing that for EACH time we have a pregnancy we create one of these organs only to discard them when the pregnancy is over and make a new one next time, all over again.
-Jyn

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Permalink Reply by Amber-joy Tacey on October 29, 2010 at 7:32am

This placenta looks really big to me, did you do anything special during your pregnancy to get it to grow so well? It's gynormous!!

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Permalink Reply by Alice Trask on June 12, 2009 at 5:01pm

When I was practicing as a midwife, I would always take the placenta to the parents and explain everything about it. Pull up the bag and show them it was actually 2 sacs(amnion & chorion) and explain the fetal side and the maternal side, etc. All of my clients were interested in the placenta and I enjoyed teaching them.
I used to have a midwifery book that had a recipe in it for placenta stew. The only one that I knew of that ate it said it tasted like a cross between liver and steak. She said she looked at it as the only meat you don't have to kill before you eat it. The thought of the liver flavor turned me off so we planted ours.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Vickers on June 12, 2009 at 6:29pm

Hello,
I have my placenta in the freezer, it will be 2 years old this August, hopefully soon we will plant it with a tree on my baby's 2nd birthday. It was beautiful when the mid-wives showed it to me after labor.

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Permalink Reply by Bonnie P on June 13, 2009 at 8:09am

I had NO IDEA you could do this! Quite shocking for the first time hearing about women "eating" their placentas, but I understand where you're coming from. It makes complete sense when you describe the hormone levels and everything. I wish I had gotten a chance to even see my placenta. I had to have a c-section with my son and the placenta honestly never even crossed my mind. With my next birth, I hope I can have a look at it!

yogamama777 said:

I just want to add... the placenta is such a rare gift (I mean, how many do you get in your lifetime, right?), that NOT using it in some way seems like such a waste. I learned that at the end of pregnancy, the placenta is pumping out about 4 times more hormones than your usual baseline. So, at some point in your pregnancy your brain shuts it's own hormone production off, letting the placenta take over. Birth Day comes, and out goes the placenta...and all those hormones. It takes your brain about 2-3 weeks to 'wake up' and begin hormone production again. That's why some new mom's may feel 'blue'--your hormone level is WAY below baseline during those weeks. Encapsulating your placenta and taking it right after birth keeps your hormones level!

yogamama777 said:

I'm at 37 weeks and plan to encapsulate my placenta. A lot of home birth moms in my community swear by their 'happy pills', saying that taking their placenta capsules help them have more energy, increase milk flow for breastfeeding, and keep away any 'blues'. For more information about this you can visit PlacentaBenefits.info.

I can't say I've done anything to specifically build my placenta. Nothing other than plain 'ol good nutrition! This is my first baby, but I definitely plan on taking a close look at the placenta when we're all done. Jodi, who is coming over to prepare the placenta capsules (BTW you can hire someone to do this or order a do-it-yourself encapsulation kit) told me that the 'baby side' of the placenta looks like an amazing root system--she called it 'the roots of life'. I like that.

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Permalink Reply by Angela on June 15, 2009 at 9:51pm

We froze the placenta from my last birth. It's still in the deep freezer and we plan to bury it.

I think that every woman should have a good, long look at her placenta. You can learn so much about your body and your eating habits by viewing/learning about your placenta. Most midwives explain what they look for and why and will "decode" your placenta for you.

With my second child, I was taking pre-natal vitamins that were not "right" for me. I ended up having a lot of calcification on the placenta. With my third child, I didn't take any pre-natals, instead eating lots of fruits and veggies and using herbs, etc...and my placenta was calcium free. I learned that pre-natals are not always that great for you...and if you listen to your body, you'll be able to do what it needs.

I thought the placenta was amazing and beautiful.

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Permalink Reply by Amber-joy Tacey on June 20, 2009 at 11:45am

WOO HOO! Thank you so much for posting!!! I love these pictures!! I am so happy to be learning so much from all of you and your expierence! Does anyone have a good picture of the fetal side of the placenta, with the tree of life?

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Permalink Reply by Tamara on January 11, 2010 at 3:05pm

I am THRILLED that someone has been inclined to start a discussion like this! The placenta truly is AMAZING and I have sincerely enjoyed looking at all of your pictures and reading through your stories. I am a mother of 3 boys (7,3, and 1) and have had 1 hospital birth and 2 homebirths. While delivering my first boy at the hospital I never was even shown my placenta. As I look back I am saddened that this amazing organ went totally unappreciated, immediately thrown in the trash, without even a glance. By my second baby, I had attended nursing school and had learned how incredible the placenta is. My homebirth midwife had taught me the all about the options we have as to how to honor the placenta... The Tree of Life. After research and gaining a better understanding I choose to encapsulate the placenta for my second and eventually my third child. I now have the incredible honor of offering Placenta EDUCATION and Encapsulation as a service to other moms. It is amazing to me how many mothers say, "I wish I would have known..." while explaining the many benefits of having pills made from your very own placenta.
I encourage women to become informed. To realize that the placenta is theirs whatever they choose to do with it. And to consider placenta pills to optimize mom and baby postpartum health!
There are so many resources to look at. For starters you can read all about the placenta at http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n1/placenta
or you can head to my website at http://www.placentapills.com/
or you can even find some humor out of this by reading this Time Magazine Article by Joel Stein: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1908194,00.html

These are a few of many sources just to get started!
Keep talking ladies! Your body has made some beautiful placentas!
oh and I have started a new "Community Group" titled Placenta Education and Encapsulation" for anyone interested!

~Tamara

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Permalink Reply by Karen M on January 12, 2010 at 4:27pm

I have a friend in Minnesota who freeze-dries and encapsulates placentas for women. :-)

I didnt remember to look at my placentas after our first 2 births, maybe I will be able to remember at this one! lol

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Permalink Reply by Amber-joy Tacey on October 29, 2010 at 7:20am

OOO Have a friend or your midwife photograph both sides for you! That's the best way to be able to look back!

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