The first time I saw a placenta, I can honestly say I did not find it appealing to think of women consuming them after birth. I felt a mixture of shock and wonder at the raw, bloody thing sitting before me. I was pregnant with Satvinder and my midwife was showing us a placenta a former client had offered for teaching purposes. I found it worthy of respect, for sure, but I had no plans to consume, in any way, shape, or form, the one that would soon be coming out of my own body. It did not even enter my mind as a possibility.
A few days after Satvinder's birth, I planted her placenta. I was surprised with the amount of emotion that came forth in me in doing so. It felt like saying goodbye to a friend. My heart hurt. I didn't know why but I didn't want to let it go. I put it in the dirt, covered it up and sprinkled rose petals over the earth where it lay.
In the years to come, birth (as a concept, an experience, a journey - not just for myself, but for all humanity) took hold of me in a new way. I was consumed with the desire to learn about it and to take steps towards it, to move beyond my own fear and face the vastness of it. To witness. To be present with it however I could. All things birth related became holy.
When my friend and doula client, Leita, asked me to prepare her placenta for encapsulation after her birth, I was excited by the opportunity. I was also intimidated. I didn't want to mess it up. But she was very trusting and accepting of my learning, my newness with it all. I expected it to be interesting - to touch and feel and see this amazing organ up close. What I didn't expect was that it would feel like a relationship, a communication, that would touch me so deeply. When I held it, I could not help but pour forth with gratitude for what this placenta had done to sustain a new life. My body tingled with appreciation and awe: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It was beautiful. I prepared it - washing, steaming, dehydrating. And then it was ground and made into pills that supported my friend postpartum.
I understand this now, as an experience. The placenta is to be honored. It is, indeed, a treasured friend to the mother and the baby in pregnancy. And after birth, it can be taken back to the mother, through various forms of ingestion, to further support. With consumption of the placenta, women report more emotional balance (less postpartum blues), less bleeding, enhanced milk supply, and improved energy. When Sukhjot was born, I encapsulated her placenta and experienced it for myself. I definitely felt that my postpartum phase was smoothed and helped by it.
I still offer placenta encapsulation as a service and every time it feels like an honor. Ingesting it in pill form is very easy - it looks no different than any other capsule one might take. I learned first from my acupuncturist friend, Sami Rank, who taught me the Traditional Chinese Medicine approach. And when the Placenta Liberation Front was formed here in Phoenix, I attended their class and enjoyed it very much. The other day, the Placenta Liberation Front training was featured on a news piece about placenta encapsulation. I am glad to see the information made available to a wider audience. Women should know their options.
Seeing the news piece made me want to write about it. I am grateful to all who I have learned from in this process and all who I continue to learn from. I am grateful for the many wonders of this life.
A few days after Satvinder's birth, I planted her placenta. I was surprised with the amount of emotion that came forth in me in doing so. It felt like saying goodbye to a friend. My heart hurt. I didn't know why but I didn't want to let it go. I put it in the dirt, covered it up and sprinkled rose petals over the earth where it lay.
In the years to come, birth (as a concept, an experience, a journey - not just for myself, but for all humanity) took hold of me in a new way. I was consumed with the desire to learn about it and to take steps towards it, to move beyond my own fear and face the vastness of it. To witness. To be present with it however I could. All things birth related became holy.
When my friend and doula client, Leita, asked me to prepare her placenta for encapsulation after her birth, I was excited by the opportunity. I was also intimidated. I didn't want to mess it up. But she was very trusting and accepting of my learning, my newness with it all. I expected it to be interesting - to touch and feel and see this amazing organ up close. What I didn't expect was that it would feel like a relationship, a communication, that would touch me so deeply. When I held it, I could not help but pour forth with gratitude for what this placenta had done to sustain a new life. My body tingled with appreciation and awe: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It was beautiful. I prepared it - washing, steaming, dehydrating. And then it was ground and made into pills that supported my friend postpartum.
I understand this now, as an experience. The placenta is to be honored. It is, indeed, a treasured friend to the mother and the baby in pregnancy. And after birth, it can be taken back to the mother, through various forms of ingestion, to further support. With consumption of the placenta, women report more emotional balance (less postpartum blues), less bleeding, enhanced milk supply, and improved energy. When Sukhjot was born, I encapsulated her placenta and experienced it for myself. I definitely felt that my postpartum phase was smoothed and helped by it.
I still offer placenta encapsulation as a service and every time it feels like an honor. Ingesting it in pill form is very easy - it looks no different than any other capsule one might take. I learned first from my acupuncturist friend, Sami Rank, who taught me the Traditional Chinese Medicine approach. And when the Placenta Liberation Front was formed here in Phoenix, I attended their class and enjoyed it very much. The other day, the Placenta Liberation Front training was featured on a news piece about placenta encapsulation. I am glad to see the information made available to a wider audience. Women should know their options.
Seeing the news piece made me want to write about it. I am grateful to all who I have learned from in this process and all who I continue to learn from. I am grateful for the many wonders of this life.
