Placenta Encapsulation & Consumption
This post cross-posted to naturalbirth and placentophagia.

Want to know what to do with your placenta? Try this:

When deciding what to do with my placenta before birthing Baby X, I came across some information on its consumption. It seemed a little crazy, maybe a little unappetizing (some people talked about making placenta smoothies, lasagna, stir fry, or just eating it raw), but I was strangely drawn to it. It really made instinctual sense to some very primal part of me. What I ended up doing, with the help of mythalethe, was dehydrating and encapsulating it (after signing a release at the hospital that we were aware this was, and I quote, "biohazardous waste").

Placentophagia is a practice that has been done for thousands of years, and which is shared by the majority of mammals. I can't fully explain why it seems to have been so beneficial to me, but I instinctually know it has - especially in avoiding post partum depression or moodiness (the belief is that the powerful hormones of the placenta help even out the dramatic post partum hormonal and energetic changes), and in raising my dangerously low iron levels after blood loss. It's also been some pretty powerful medicine in a spiritual sense.

I know some of you may not find placentophagia to be anything but bizarre and disgusting, as that was my starting point, but it just made sense to me post partum. I hope you'll respect my belief in the holiness of the placenta. Behold the Holy Placenta!

I thought you might be interested in how we ended up preparing it, so I've put together this photo essay:

Most people advise keeping very centered and grounded during the process. The idea is that the placenta absorbs the energy around it.

1. Placenta: The Tree of Life


2. Steaming the placenta over LOW heat, with lemon, ginger, and cayenne. Rinse excess blood before steaming. Can also be steamed with jalapeno instead of cayenne. Steam for 15 minutes, turn and steam other side until no juice comes out. These additions are for "warmth" in Chinese medicine.


3. After Steaming. Remove umbilical cord and membrane. (Membrane keeps it held together during steaming.)


4. Cutting into very thin slices for dehydration... The thinner the better, because grinding will be much easier!


5. Ready for dehydration - Bake in oven on lowest setting for 7-10 hours.


6. After dehydration


7. Ready for mortar and pestle. (Some people use a coffee grinder at this stage. I was advised against this for a few reasons. An electric grinder may influence the energetics of the placenta. It also becomes a very meditative task to grind by hand, offering an opportunity for exercise in intention.


8. The capsules for the powdered placenta - scoop powdered placenta into each capsule by using capsule itself or an envelope with a corner cut, as a funnel. My partner reported that it was easiest to just scoop with the capsule.


9. The placenta being ground by hand into strong medicine


10. Ready for consumption: 2 pills 3x a day for 4 weeks, then as needed. Keep capsules in cool, dry place in a dark jar. Some people recommend drinking a bit of white wine with every dose (sparingly). When mama feels she doesn't need to take the capsules anymore, she can keep the remaining ones for homeopathic use every time the child undergoes a separation from her.