We Need To Talk: Placenta Encapsulation

A couple of years ago before I was ever pregnant (or even thinking of becoming pregnant) I heard about placenta encapsulation and I was hooked. I knew that if I ever had a child, I would be doing it. In fact, I started questioning my friends who had children asking them if there was anyone who did it locally. Thank god, there is. (Find out about placenta encapsulation in Southern Delaware by CLICKING HERE.)

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with placenta encapsulation, allow me to explain. The placenta is in the uterus with the baby and helps channel all those good nutrients and stuff to baby. It's their little life force in the womb. After the baby is born, so too is the placenta. Every mammal in nature eats the placenta after they birth their babies because it replaces essential nutrients and hormones lost in the birthing process....except, for some reason, we humans. 

We humans. We always think we are exempt from nature's laws. Well, thank goodness there is a movement (call it recent, but it's more ancient turned recent) for women to ingest their placentas just as nature intended. There are a ton of benefits--both physical and emotional--that come with placenta ingestion. 

Now, of course I'm not suggesting I'm going to make a steak dinner of my placenta, but the woman who encapsulates it for me will take it, freeze dry it and pack it into pills that I can take orally. This will not only help with milk production and also helps with mood regulation, energy level and a whole host of good things that new mommies need. Overall, I think it's a completely healthy process that I am really looking forward to trying (and keeping you all informed about, too!) 

Which is why I was fully horrified last week when I was watching Teen Mom 2 and watched poor Kailyn's male OB/GYN talk her out of placenta encapsulation! (And yes, I watch Teen Mom 2, and no I don't feel guilty about it. I love reality TV, it's my thing.) I have had my fair share of issues with male doctors (both over the years and during this pregnancy), so I didn't want to go directly to the "what a male doctor douche bag move," but it turned out, I didn't have to. 

My husband, who was also watching with me, started shaking his head, muttering about why male doctors do this to women. So it wasn't just me. Here this woman was, stating the clear benefits of placenta encapsulation--trying desperately to advocate for her choice--and all her doctor had for her was "I'm more concerned with you having a healthy baby, not having a healthy placenta." What the fuck does that even mean? Then he went on to say, "I deliver over a hundred babies a year and no one else does that and they are just fine." Oh well, since no one else is doing it....

That was when Kailyn finally caves and simply says, "Okay." She nods her head and seems to drop the issue entirely. *Sigh* Total fail for us women in that moment at the hands of a male doctor who, I am sure, can't fathom what it must be like to be bombarded by hormones for nine solid months and then have them whisked away in an instant. Ugh. 

I get it, maybe holistic meds aren't everyone's cup of tea. Maybe they think it's a lot of snake oil. But that doesn't diminish our rights as women and mothers to choose the path(s) that we think are best for us. Placenta encapsulation isn't this far flung idea that has no basis in science. And if it's not going to hurt, and could possibly help, why not? Can I also just add, it's a woman's legal and religious right to take her placenta with her and do whatever the heck she wants with it. Some women plant them at the base of trees when their children are born. 

While I am sure that some people might find the fact that I am planning on placenta encapsulation off the wall, I could care less. I find things people do off the wall all the time, but they go on doing it anyway. I wish that placenta encapsulation was something more women considered. I know it is gaining ground, but I wondered as I watched this small scene unfold on TV how many women have been discouraged from the practice by their healthcare providers who may not know a whole lot about it to begin with. 

I urge all women thinking of encapsulation to explore if it is right for them and make the decision for themselves. There are lots of women who suffer from postpartum depression, and encapsulation may be the perfect solution. Others, like me, who are concerned with lactation, anxiety, and energy can also benefit. For that matter, anyone in perfect health can also find it gives them a boost. Don't be discouraged because someone doesn't see eye to eye with you on the issue. Only you know what is right for your body! 

So tell me, are you planning on doing placenta encapsulation? Have you tried it already and loved it or hated it? Does it freak you out? Leave it for me in the comments section below! 


  1. I birthed my daughter at a freestanding birth center with midwives, and they were MUCH more open to the idea of placenta encapsulation than the OB at the local hospital would have been. I definitely received my fair share of raised eyebrows and "WHY would you want to do that??" comments, but I didn't care. I found a woman who did placenta encapsulation, and I figured even if it didn't help, it certainly wouldn't hurt. I'm glad I did it; life was very stressful after my daughter was born. She never wanted to sleep (still doesn't, and she'll be 1 in a few weeks), I had a toddler who I affectionately refer to as "a walking can of Red Bull," my husband was crazy busy with work and school, and I just felt very isolated and overwhelmed. I had the baby blues for a few weeks after Alessandra's birth, but I truly believe the pills helped to keep me from going into full-on PPD.

    Good for you for giving it a try!!

    1. Thanks Marisa! I am looking forward to trying it. I haven't gotten any negative feedback from my midwives...but I am not sure I have mentioned it to them, either. Haha. Maybe I should....

  2. I follow Kail on twitter and she actually switched doctors (maybe when she moved to DE) and followed through with the placenta encapsulation. She is a big advocate for it! Swears by it!

    1. Thank goodness!!! I'm really excited to try it myself, and I hope it works well for me!!!

  3. I know this blog is a no-judgment zone, so I’m going to go out on a limb and against the popular opinion here…. I just think it sounds icky (don’t judge me!). I read about the benefits while I was pregnant and would have been willing to overcome the ick factor if I needed to, but after discussing with my (female and pretty forward-thinking) OB, I decided to pass (with a tiny sigh of relief). She said that she thought it was an intriguing and under-researched practice and that she hoped there would be more studies published on it, but that most of the evidence of the benefits she had come across was anecdotal. She said the only scientifically proven benefit of ingesting the placenta that she was aware of was the nutritional value which, while certainly appealing to other mammals and primitive humans, was not something that a modern-day mama with access to a grocery store necessarily needed. I too hope that there are more studies done to prove the benefits so that willing mamas don’t have to argue with their medical providers for what they think is best – and perhaps to better persuade the slightly squeamish among us as well 

    1. For me, I really think that there is a split between modern medicine and holistic healing and this seems to be especially prevalent when it comes to birthing. Obviously placenta encapsulation will not be every woman's cup of tea, and if you feel turned off by it, there is NO shame in that!

      But for me, it makes so much sense. After reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (where he talks about humans thinking they are immune of natural laws), I think about the body differently and this falls under that (for me.) I agree that it's under researched. There are a lot of doctors who feel the same way about essential oils, too (which I use a ton of!)

      My only beef is that if a woman wants to try something, and it's not going to be harmful, doctors should advocate for patients making those decisions on an individual level.