Anonymous wrote:But if your body delivers it whole, why would it be "natural" to ingest it? The body is getting rid of it. It's not like we eat our menstrual blood to gain strength or whatever... I can't believe a physician would be amenable to thus- maybe they're just humoring you?

If you're anemia, why don't you take iron pills or eat more red meat or spinach?

You mean you don't drink your own menstrual blood? What are you thinking--blood is chock full of iron!
Some people

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm. I didn't eat my placenta and I had a very smooth postpartum period. I was never weepy and I although I was a little tired, it was from nursing around the clock--btw, I had a great milk supply. However, I had plenty of energy and felt as if I was on a natural high. I had no trouble getting rest and napped soundly when my DS did, thus accounting for my amazing energy. I had very little post-partum bleeding--certainly not 6 weeks worth and didn't have any exhaustion at the 3 month period--guess I didn't get a hormonal shift like you did after eating your placenta and I don't have any strange jars sitting in my fridge. I have gone through menopause without a backward glance and thus, didn't need any 15 year old placenta to get me through a natural progression of life---BTW, animals in the field do not have their decades old placenta to use in old age so I guess that isn't entirely natural...but I digress. In any event, as you can see your postpartum reports are anecdotal as is my report. What point exactly were you trying to make?

I was not trying to make a point or say that my reports were anything but anecdotal - as I said, this was my first child and therefore I have no evidence that the pills were beneficial whatsoever. It is very possible that I would have had the exact same postpartum experience without them. I was simply answering the original poster's question about how I took them and what my postpartum experience was like, because in the 4-page thread very few of the responses actually answered her question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, try again in a few weeks with a new thread without the shots at blood transfusions and formula. I actually am a huge breastfeeding advocate, and I think there might be something to placenta encapsulation, though it's not for me... But your attitude came across as alienating. I think you seem like you're in a raw frame of mind and I get it - it's hard to over a hard birth and PP period...totally get that. But, ease up on yourself and others before posting again. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar and all!

I've tried it before and go nothing but snark and tasteless humor. The exact same thing I got here. DCUM is the same no matter what attitude you have. Last time around, the jokes were at least funny.

I truly lost my hope when I had more than 3 pages of posters telling me it was not big deal that I had a vanish twin, people saying it was not a real loss, etc... it went down from there, the language was shocking! Just 4 people were respectful and posted something nice.

Thanks for your kind words, I really appreciate it. It's so rare around here...

OP, PP here. You have to accept that some people are going to find it funny. Before my son was born, my FIL sent me an article about people cooking their placentas as a joke and I remember, before I'd come into contact with the real, live, people who took it seriously and felt it had benefits, that it was hilarious and absurd. I remember writing back and saying I was going to bury mine instead, and plant a fruit tree there, and name the fruit tree, etc, etc. As I was writing it, I felt a vague sense that, hey, maybe we SHOULD treat this amazing organ with a little bit more respect than discarding it as medical waste. Then when my DS was born, my very allopathic OB showed DH and I my placenta after I delivered it. I think he probably felt, since I had a natural birth, that we'd be into seeing it. I was kind of icked out by it, but he was basically like "here is the placenta, just look at it. Isn't it magnificent! It kept (son's name) alive during your pregnancy. After that, I felt a little bit bad for those jokes. The placenta is a workhorse. All should respect the placenta (if maybe not eat it...but again, people should be allowed to celebrate their own traditions here).

As for me, I'm not sure I would personally EAT my placenta, I think that the benefits are theoretical at this point and since I didn't have a big problem with number one, am not sure there's a point to the cost and PITA of it (for ME - not saying for anyone else). But, you have to take the jokes with a grain of salt. If you're going to do something this far away from what 99 percent of us do, people are going to laugh. It will be much easier for you if you take it in stride and maybe even acknowledge that it's an "out there" thing, but nonetheless something you believe in. Then it will be easier to wade through the insults.

You sound like you are upset about the way your first birth went and I don't blame you. My first post was simply to gently remind you that you turned off blood donors, etc with the way you posted it. So had you just come out with "I don't want to need a blood transfusion" that would have been great. But the "from god knows who" went too far and probably made people feel, rightfully so, like "holy shit, I donated my own precious blood to someone who clearly did not see it as precious!" Of course I get that you didn't want to need that blood. But you know, shades of gray and all, it's best to opt for the way to talk that doesn't hurt feelings.

Other posters, same goes for this OP. Seems like she worded her OP clumsily with respect to that blood thing, but cut this mom a break. Maybe some day placenta eating will be widespread and we will all say, "ha, remember when we were grossed out by this?" Then again, maybe someday we'll be like, wow, remember that trend? WEIRD! But why not just be respectful all around? (And okay, maybe a little bit funny).

OP, I'm so sorry you went through PPD. I did too and I know what you are talking about when you talk about that feeling of fright of hurting your own child. My concern is that the placenta might not work, or might work too late/too early/not strong enough. Is there a plan if it's not enough? I'm not asking you to share it, but I hope so. Especially since you now have a toddler. I hope you'll have people helping you. Good luck, OP.

Anonymous wrote:you say placenta I say placento

Actually, you say placenta, I say placebo.

02/29/2012 12:32 Subject: If you ate your placenta
Anonymous



Anonymous wrote:
Yes, I will go their. Animals eat their placenta so that the scent is not left behind to draw predators. This is to protect their young.


Yup, that is one of the reasons. Good job. They also don't know how to use scissors to cut the cord and they don't have nurses bringing them ice chips and food a few hours after labor. What else do you know? (or didn't know)?

They also lick the litter to spread the vernix on their skin instead of bathing them... to protect against predators and to moisturize their skin and protect against the dry environment outside the womb. To give them warmth. We, instead bathe them to remove the protective layer rubbing them with cancerous stuff J&J gives "for free" at the hospital and put them in an electric warmer. Something is not right here...

To follow your logic, humans (as mammals) should naturally gnaw through our own placenta (after giving birth under the porch in the dirt like my childhood cat did), and eat our placentas fresh and raw after giving birth. We should think lick our infants to spread the vernix to moisturize their skin and give them warmth.) We should not freeze dry the placenta and eat it over the course of weeks or months and we should never shower or use soap, because mammals just lick themselves clean. We should also eat a raw diet, because animals do not cook their food and we should not live in homes, just find a cave or a hole instead.

Honey, there are lots of things that lower forms of mammals do that humans do not because they haven't opposable thumbs and the intellect of humans. A straight comparison is meritless.

you say placenta I say placento

BTW, animals in the field do not have their decades old placenta to use in old age so I guess that isn't entirely natural

So much for the natural mammal behavior argument.

Hmmm. I didn't eat my placenta and I had a very smooth postpartum period. I was never weepy and I although I was a little tired, it was from nursing around the clock--btw, I had a great milk supply. However, I had plenty of energy and felt as if I was on a natural high. I had no trouble getting rest and napped soundly when my DS did, thus accounting for my amazing energy. I had very little post-partum bleeding--certainly not 6 weeks worth and didn't have any exhaustion at the 3 month period--guess I didn't get a hormonal shift like you did after eating your placenta and I don't have any strange jars sitting in my fridge. I have gone through menopause without a backward glance and thus, didn't need any 15 year old placenta to get me through a natural progression of life---BTW, animals in the field do not have their decades old placenta to use in old age so I guess that isn't entirely natural...but I digress. In any event, as you can see your postpartum reports are anecdotal as is my report. What point exactly were you trying to make?

To actually answer the question for you:
We encapsulated my placenta ourselves at home after birth with a $60 dehydrator, an old blender, and some empty pill capsules from Amazon. Yes, it smelled kind of funny, and yes, there is a weird burp-taste afterwards similar to fish burp from fish oil pills. I found that if I took the pills really fast with a cup of apple cider or strong flavored drink, they went down much easier and the "placenta-taste" was mostly in my mind. This is my first child, so I don't know if things would have gone differently otherwise or not, but my postpartum period was very smooth, even though I had feared postpartum depression. I still was weepy, but it was always just from being tired. It was never more than a mild case of the baby blues from being exhausted and nursing all day. I had read that people felt they had more energy when they took the pills, but I found that they helped me get much better rest (i took my most awesome naps the days that I took the pills) thus having more energy. And I'm not sure if it helped with postpartum bleeding as I had read it would. I bled for a full six weeks, though it never was worse than the heaviest day of my normal period. I took a few again at about 3 months postpartum because I was really feeling exhausted and down (apparently there's another hormonal shift at this time) and now I have the rest of the jar in the back of my fridge. I've heard that along with saving them for menopause, they can be really helpful during your menstrual cycle.

Wait wait, cover the baby in the natural youth saving meconium, then lick it off like animals do.

I've got it! If you need me I'll be on mothering dot com extolling this new natural way to do things and for a price I'll tell you how.....

Anonymous wrote:This is a gem of a thread! From eating a disgusting old sack of blood to criticizing blood donors. We have something for everyone here.

Where did you read that?

This is a gem of a thread! From eating a disgusting old sack of blood to criticizing blood donors. We have something for everyone here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I will go their. Animals eat their placenta so that the scent is not left behind to draw predators. This is to protect their young.

Yup, that is one of the reasons. Good job. They also don't know how to use scissors to cut the cord and they don't have nurses bringing them ice chips and food a few hours after labor. What else do you know? (or didn't know)?

They also lick the litter to spread the vernix on their skin instead of bathing them... to protect against predators and to moisturize their skin and protect against the dry environment outside the womb. To give them warmth. We, instead bathe them to remove the protective layer rubbing them with cancerous stuff J&J gives "for free" at the hospital and put them in an electric warmer. Something is not right here...

Honey, go deliver in the field then, since you think everything is so bad if it is modern. And btw, I think your previous experience has left you a few bats short of a belfry.

Wow, people are pretty harsh here.

OP - you might want to check in with one of the more crunchy sites - like mothering.com. They aren't so mean over there!