One of the services I offer to women is that of placenta encapsulation. Placenta encapsulation isn’t for the faint of heart and it can get quite bloody, but even so, the placenta is chock full of health benefits for mom that make it worth it. Hiring someone to encapsulate your placenta may seem expensive, but many women don’t realize exactly what goes into the encapsulation process. Here are some things to consider when deciding between encapsulating your own placenta and hiring someone else to do it.
Birth is exhausting
We all hear stories about women who gave birth and went to running marathons the next day. Stories like that are incredible, but not the usual outcome for most women. Birth is exhausting and it take a lot out of a woman. Ideally, the placenta needs to have begun being processed within four hours of birth. A new mom should be bonding with her baby in those first few hours, not rinsing a bloody placenta in a colander.
Waking up in the middle of the night
If you choose to encapsulate your own placenta, you’re going to have to get up in the middle of the night multiple times. If you think you’ll be tired from the baby waking you up to eat at night, just wait until you have to wake up every three hours to check on your placenta in the dehydrator. This certainly isn’t something I would want to do on my first night with a newborn baby.
Supplies are expensive
You might be lucky enough to have some of the supplies you need already, but most people don’t. You’ll need a cutting board, a knife, a colander, a dehydrator, empty vegetarian capsules, disposable gloves, face masks, a steaming pan, a capsule machine, a mortar and pestle (or a food grinder) and a whole lot of patience. The supplies alone can be more expensive than hiring someone else to do it for you.
Patience and experience
Placenta encapsulation is a very time-consuming project. Whenever I have a placenta to work on, I have to block out an entire 48 hours of my life to dedicate to working on that placenta. It takes a lot of time and patience and for someone who hasn’t done it before, it could be very stressful and frustrating.
I paid someone to encapsulate my placenta
I offer placenta encapsulation to women in my area and even though I have all of the materials, tools, supplies and knowledge to do it myself, I hired someone else to encapsulate my placenta when I had my daughter. Placenta encapsulation is an amazing thing for the mother, but it is a very time-consuming and draining process that must be done as soon as possible. A new mother should be resting and bonding with her new baby. If at all possible, hiring someone else to encapsulate your placenta is likely to be your best bet, but if you can’t find someone in your area, try talking to your partner or a close friend and ask them if they would be willing to help you do it.
More from Yahoo! Voices
Placentaphagia: The benefits of consuming the placenta after birth
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