Why I Chose To Encapsulate My Placenta

As most readers of this blog know, I had a very tough time with postpartum depression after the birth of my first daughter, Callie. This time around, with Lucia, I was determined to stack the deck in my favor as much as possible. When I was pregnant with Callie I came across this column in Time Magazine. You know, back when I had the time to frivolously flip through magazines! I found it quite fascinating and shared it with Bill, who thought it was pretty dang gross. Through the rest of the pregnancy I toyed with the idea of placenta encapsulation. And sure it sounded a little weird but in the end I didn't do anything about it. I will never forget the moment when the nurses showed me Callie's placenta. They told me it was verrry healthy, but I will admit it looked pretty gross and I felt glad that I hadn't really done anything about encapsulation. But oh...later on I wished I had! When I was in the throes of feeling so tired, overwhelmed and like my baby hated me I wished I had a do over. I will also admit that I allowed Bill's squeamishness about the topic sway me a little more than I should have. But a big part of me naively said "I'm not prone to depression so I'm sure I'll be fine." Wrong. Luckily for me, I didn't have PPD as bad as some other people I met in my journey back to me but it was definitely a rough road.
So this time I wasn't going to let anyone deter me. I found someone who works with our doula and talked to her about encapsulation. It was cheaper than I had anticipated, around $200. That may sound like a lot to some, but when I think of the days and weeks where I didn't want to touch Callie, let alone take care of her and love her that is a tiny price to pay. When I think of how hard it was for Bill to see me turn into someone else who couldn't function it isn't even a question of whether I should do it.
One of the reasons I was so intent on being induced when I was week past my due date is that I was worried the placenta would go bad. Placentas do go bad, parts of it turn gray and it doesn't protect the baby as well as it should. After I delivered Lucia and the placenta we had to get sneaky. Some hospitals and in turn, nurses, are not very much in favor of giving placentas to patients since it is technically a human waste product. But our doula and nurse knew their way around the system. So we basically had to sneak my placenta out of the hospital in the dark of night! Once all of the other nurses were out of the room they double bagged the placenta and put it on ice. Bill wrapped it in a towel he had brought from home and we stored it in the car overnight until the lady could come pick it up in the morning. Bill made the exchange in the morning and the next day she came back and gave us the finished product. The placenta is dried, ground and put into capsules. Even with being a week past my due date, they got more than the usual amount of pills from my placenta. She told us the average is to get between 100-120 capsules from a good placenta, but she got around 150 from mine.

So why encapsulate? It helps normalize your hormones to help beat the "baby blues".  And don't get me started on that little phrase. Doesn't do it justice at all, but that's a different story!
You lose most of the hormones you have been storing up during pregnancy during the birth process. Its a bit like being a drug addict or a smoker and going cold turkey. The capsules help with the transition so you aren't going cold turkey with your hormones. Placenta capsules  also are supposed to speed up and enrich your milk supply and help in postpartum healing, increase energy and help with iron deficiency.You can take the pills anytime you are feeling run down or need extra energy because it is your hormones and works with your body chemistry. You can also save the pills for menopause when hormonal changes happen again, as long as you keep them refrigerated. Not sure if I would be able to hold onto something in my fridge for another 30+ years, but people do it!
So is it working? I think so. In terms of milk supply it has definitely worked. My milk came in a full 3-4 days earlier this time around. It is hard to tell how much of what I feel emotionally this time around is because I've been through it once before so I know what the warning signs are but I feel so incredibly different this time. It took such a long time for me to connect with Callie but I bonded with Lucia almost instantly. Of course I am still overwhelmed at times with a toddler and a newborn but nothing like what I experienced with Callie. I know the real test will be when Bill goes to work to see how I handle all of the stress. So I guess, time will tell!
So there you have it. I hope that fewer people will be grossed out by the idea and give it a chance or at least respect those of us that have chosen to encapsulate. I hope fewer people will have the image of a new mom ripping into her own placenta with blood running down her chin.
And when you stop to think about how many new moms have suffered in silence with PPD and how many children have been harmed because we call it the "baby blues" and tell new moms to get over it already, it really is a small price to pay. I for one am more than happy to pop some pills to make sure my girls and our family are safe and happy.