Love Your Placenta!
In the days after birth, energy levels can take a serious dip and often times emotional stability gets lost in the mix of sleep deprivation and the many changes that occur. The placenta produces a high level of hormones during a person’s pregnancy that keep their emotions and energy levels balanced. One of these is CRH, a stress reducing hormone. After birth, it takes time for the hypothalamus to begin producing appropriate levels of this hormone again. Ingesting your placenta can help build a bridge during this time of great change. Some believe that this brief deficiency in CRH is what can kick off a cycle of postpartum depression.
Despite the limited evidence-based studies available on placenta encapsulation, anecdotal reports highlight a variety of potential benefits associated with the practice. These benefits include a restoring hormonal balance, enhanced production of oxytocin, lower stress hormone levels, restoration of essential iron levels after childbirth, and improved milk supply. Recent explorations into the benefits of placenta encapsulation have uncovered some exciting findings for birthing parents. Several small studies suggest that essential hormones, such as progesterone and estradiol, remain intact within the placenta after the encapsulation process. These vital hormones are known to provide impressive physiological benefits for the birthing parent when consumed.
The American Pregnancy Association highlights that placenta encapsulation might play a role in stabilizing mood by boosting oxytocin levels, which can be particularly beneficial as your body adjusts hormonally after welcoming your little one. Embracing this natural approach could support not just your body but your emotional well-being during this transformative time! These insights suggest that placenta encapsulation could play a significant role in regulating postpartum hormones, which positively influence both mood and milk production during the postpartum period.
We hear an overwhelming amount of feedback from our clients, even parents who have taken their placentas with their second child but not their first, that they experience a clear difference in how they feel!
Postpartum Parents Have Reported
- Postpartum mood stability by a reduction in stress levels
- Quicker recovery with shorten postpartum bleeding and increase your iron supply to reduce iron deficiency
- Increase in energy levels
- Increased breast milk production for a healthy milk supply
- Restoring hormonal balance
- Assist the uterus in quickly returning to it’s pre-pregnancy size (known as involution)
Safety Matters
Our placenta encapsulation specialists are extensively trained and certified in bloodborne pathogens, infectious control, and safe food handling. We follow rigorous safety protocols, including:
• Individual placenta processing
• Safe handling and temperature control from birth through processing
• Thorough sanitization and dedicated processing equipment
• Steaming and dehydration procedures designed to reduce bacterial contamination
• Screening placentas for circumstances that make encapsulation unsafe
Placenta encapsulation is not without risk, and current research does not establish its benefits or safety conclusively. We believe in giving families honest information so they can decide whether it is right for them. Even with all these precautions in place, people who choose to ingest their placenta have decided that the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks especially when they hire a professional placenta encapsulation service like ours that safely handles one placenta at a time.
Please contact us today by emailing info@ashevillehomegrownfamilies.com if you have any further questions about our process or to find out if placenta encapsulation is the right choice for you! We recommend contacting us before birth, but we can often accommodate postpartum requests. Placentas must be no more than 3 days old if refrigerated or less than 6 months old if frozen. We provide free pickup and delivery within Asheville, NC zip codes but there is an extra travel fee for those that live more than 30 minutes outside of city center. Typical turnaround is 4 to 5 days, with most placentas producing approximately 100 to 200 capsules.
Services We Offer:
Placenta Encapsulation ($300)
Placenta Loose Powder ($275)
Placenta Blood Print ($70)
Placenta Blood & Edible WaterColor Print ($75)
Placenta Art Print not edible ($75)
Additional Placentas ($50 per extra placenta)
Placenta Bundle (encapsulation, cord keepsake, print) $350
I struggled really bad throughout pregnancy with depression and I have been crying most of the time before taking the placenta in the morning and then leveling out after I take them so I know they are working. I really appreciate the beautiful way you preserved the umbilical cord too. The capsules and the cord have made everything that much more special. Thank you.
We also offer Placenta Prints and Cord Keepsakes:
This is a customized printing of the fetal side of the placenta (looks like the Tree of Life), which is very fitting for a keepsake. Placenta prints and cord keepsakes are a great way to commemorate the beauty of the placenta and to honor the special role it played in your baby’s growth and development. Placenta prints are made on an acid-free art paper and created in such a way that the paint does not come into direct contact with the placenta, keeping your placenta sanitary and safe for consumption/encapsulation. You may choose up to three (3) colors for your print. onto the surface of the placenta to leave an impression of the placenta on the paper. The umbilical cord is preserved as a heart-shaped keepsake, you may request other shapes but that will be dependent on cord length.
If you are consuming your placenta, this print will be made with your natural blood and/or food coloring. If you are not consuming, you will be able to pick from a wide range of color paints and/or glitter paint. These prints are great to frame and display in your baby’s nursery or treasured as a keepsake from the pregnancy. Please note, prints will vary in their appearance – each print is a unique piece of art.
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