FAQ: placenta edition

Recently, I texted a placenta encapsulation client who had started her capsules a few days prior to see how she was feeling and if she had any questions. Here’s what she said:

Rachel, I can tell such a BIG difference in hormonal waves this time versus last time. Thank you so very much. I’m recommending it to all of my pregnant friends, it’s seriously a game-changer! Thank you!! —Julia

It made my day to hear that she was finding it so helpful and reminded me of why I became trained in placenta encapsulation—to be able to offer another option for support during the postpartum weeks.

While you can read more on the services page, here are some other common questions about the process:

Which process of encapsulation do you offer?

We offer the traditional method, based on traditional Chinese medicine. The process includes gently steaming the placenta with ginger and lemon prior to dehydration in order to kill bacteria. Additionally, this method is designed to help ‘balance’ the placenta after childbirth. This gives clients peace of mind as it’s considered the safest method for consumption.

Why do you process in my home?

As a ProDoula trained placenta specialist, safety and professionalism are my priorities. The guidelines we follow far exceed industry standards. Some of the benefits of having it done in your home include:

  • You have no doubt that the encapsulated placenta is in fact yours as it is the only one in your home and you brought it directly home yourself. You also know it was kept and handled properly.
  • There is zero risk of your placenta being exposed to any unfamiliar bacteria or cross-contamination that may interfere with healthy postpartum recovery or pose other health risks.
  • You get a very quick turnaround as you can start taking them literally the moment they’re finished!
  • You witness the careful sanitizing process and other precautions first hand.
  • I can support you best in person. I’m trained and passionate about supporting you during this tender time, and in person is where I can check on you, answer questions, and offer help most directly.

But, like, will it be gross and stinky?

Not at all. Everything is fully cleaned and sanitized in your kitchen before and after processing each day, leaving not a clue as to the day’s activities. The brief steaming process is when an odor may be released, and this only lasts about 15 minutes and everything is very well-ventilated. I’ve never had a client comment on it, in fact. If you still feel squeamish, it’s easy to avoid the kitchen while I’m there.

How and when do I contact you? When do you start the process?

Please contact me by phone between the hours of 9am – 9pm within 12 hours of the birth of your baby, so we can discuss scheduling. Ideally, I like to begin within 2 days of the birth, so your capsules can be ready by day 3. Some clients will have a neighbor or relative let me in even if they aren’t home yet, but it’s up to you if you’re comfortable with that option.

What do you need from me?

All I need from you is the placenta itself and access to a stove, sink, and outlet (overnight) for the dehydrator. When I’m your placenta specialist, you can feel confident that my equipment and supplies are fully sanitized and ready for your encapsulation. I bring everything with me. Don’t even worry about cleaning up the kitchen before I arrive, I’ll take care of it while you and your family rest!

What do I do with the placenta until you get here?

The placenta must be placed in a cooler on ice or in the refrigerator within 2 – 4 hours of the birth. If we can’t begin encapsulating within 3 days, you can put the placenta in the freezer. It can be frozen for up to 3 months.

What if my family and friends are unsupportive?

Like everything around birth and parenting, this decision is a personal one and may not be for everyone. Choose what is best for you and hopefully they will come around to respect your choices even if they don’t fully understand them. The finished product looks like any other vitamin or supplement so even the nosiest of visitors won’t be suspicious. It’s really just up to you alone and no one else’s business.

How long does the process take?

The entire process takes about 24 hours, with the actual in-home work lasting about 2 hours a day for two consecutive days.

How do I take the capsules?

We share some suggested guidelines for consumption, but ultimately encourage you to follow your body’s cues and individual needs.

What other placenta-related items do you offer?

  • cord keepsake— All clients receive a complimentary cord keepsake. This is the umbilical cord dried into a special shape, which many clients enjoy keeping with other newborn mementos.
  • blood print— We can do a basic blood print of your placenta on high-quality archival watercolor paper. The pattern is reminiscent of a tree and a special reminder of the connection with your baby. Some may choose to leave it plain or enhance it with paint or colored pencil, framing it for the nursery.
  • tincture— A tincture is a highly concentrated alcohol-based liquid that can be a useful boost at stressful or anxious times such as weaning or returning to work, or for other emotional lows. It takes six weeks to mature, but can be used indefinitely after that. It should last a very long time, since only a few drops are used at a time.
  • salve—The salve is a handmade preparation of oils slowly infused with herbs and placenta powder, strained and set into small tin for personal use. It is made with organic ingredients and no preservatives, exceptionally rich and healing for the skin. It should be kept in the fridge and used within 1-3 months. 


Contact Us to learn more!


placenta encapsulation package
The finished product! Cord keepsake, handmade placenta capsules, and consumption guidelines.

the doula as luxury

When you hear the word “luxury,” what typically comes to mind? Probably things like:


And when you think of necessity, maybe things like:


Maybe also high on the necessity list are things like fulfilling work or hobbies, some form of love/companionship, and a connection with nature or something spiritual:


Many will also see access to medical care, education, and a feeling of safety and security as human needs or rights.


In the small circle of birth work, there is some debate around whether a doula is a necessity that every birthing person should have the option to have, or a luxury service which while certainly nice, is far from necessary.

I asked the husband, “Is a doula a need?” He laughed and said, “Please. Any doula who thinks she is a necessity needs to get over herself.” Ok, that’s one point of view.

Yet, this is how the general public would likely answer, too. I’ve recently heard doula as a punchline in 4 different contexts. There were doula cracks in an Archer episode (below), a Duracell commercial (“… like your doula, who wants you to have a dolphin-assisted water birth.”), in Oh, Hello on Broadway (Gil Faizon is a “Tony Award viewing actor” who moonlights as an unlicensed doula and has a raccoon girlfriend), and in the 2016 Ali Wong Netflix comedy special (“I hired a doula. You know what a doula is? A white hippie witch that blows quinoa into your pussy to Keyser Soze all the pain away.” Note: I have not learned this technique. Yet.)

It’s great that “doula” is making its way into the mainstream lexicon, yet clearly it’s still seen as a silly indulgent thing that other people do.

Archer: What’s your Bishop Score?!
Lana: How should I…? Wait. How do you even know what a Bishop Score is?
Archer: I got certified as a doula, which, turns out, is not that hard.

Lana Kane handles her impromptu doula, Sterling Archer.

But really, which is it? Is a doula a necessity, a right? Or is a doula a luxury for the few who can afford one and a punchline for the rest of us?

My answer is YES.

No, this isn’t a cop out. In our either/or culture we often forget that sometimes BOTH possibilities are true. An oversimplified “debate” leaves out piles of nuance and information. As illustrated above, there is a lot of grey area between the extremes of luxury and necessity, and that grey area can vary a lot depending on one’s personal situation.

What are some good analogies? Organic food? I could say that everyone has a right to fresh, healthy organic produce. It’s good for your body and reduces your exposure to toxins. But is it really a necessity? Should organic farmers donate their food to those in need? Or maybe massage therapy? It can be therapeutic and healing to many, but is it a necessity? A college education gives you more options in life, but is it a necessity? A car can be a necessity, depending on where you live.

Ok, you say, BUT! Our healthcare system is AWFUL!! It’s a danger zone in there!!! Doulas are literally the only thing standing between a woman and a system designed to make her birth experience as terrible as possible!!!!

Our outcomes are shameful, just look up infant and maternal mortality rates by country. And what improves birth outcomes? The midwifery model of care and raising the status of women and girls. There are bigger things to attend to if we truly want to improve birth outcomes on a macro level. Doulas make a difference, but putting the responsibility to ‘save’ someone’s birth on a doula’s shoulders is unrealistic and unfair.

We know that doula support has many benefits, but they do come at a price and that’s where the necessity v. luxury question becomes important. Can we, as birth workers, provide support to all families regardless of their ability to pay? Is it reasonable to expect doulas to make themselves available to everyone, even for little or no pay? An unpaid or barely-paid doula is then paying to attend births, a significant investment.

The obstacles to quality doula support extend beyond the doulas themselves. As summarized on Birth by the Numbers:

Choices in Childbirth surveyed 111 doulas in New York City as well as held four focus groups. The cumulative findings of this research include:

  • Cost is the most significant barrier to obtaining doula services.
  • The doula workforce is small and less diverse than the population of New York City, with women of color under-represented as well as doula services in languages other than English, Spanish, or French.
  • Access to doula care in underserved communities is extremely limited.
  • Fostering collaborative relationships between doulas, maternity care providers, and nurses would improve the impact of doula care.
  • Establishing positive hospital policies would improve the impact of doula care.
  • Doulas need support for the work that they do, including models of doula service delivery that minimize stressors and difficulties.

To view the full report, click here.

When DONA (the oldest doula certifying organization in the US) was founded, their mission became “a doula for every woman who wants one.” That sounds wonderful! But the devil is in the details.

Whose responsibility is it to make sure that every woman who wants a doula can get one? This was never fleshed out and as a result, the assumption was that the doula should make the sacrifice to be available for as many pregnant people as possible. This likely happened for several reasons:

  1. our views on money (money is inherently evil and taints any interactions it touches; birth and loving care should remain free of such base concerns)
  2. a calling, labor of love (if you truly love what you do, money is irrelevant!) 
  3. our views on charity/giving/volunteering (being a selfless martyr is romanticized and venerated; women especially are expected to put others first), and that one’s training and profession should also be where they do their volunteering or charity work (you’re trained in this area so you should do it pro bono when possible)
  4. our egos (it feels so good to be needed!)

Additionally, it was easier to shape the budding new doula culture, rather than the wider social norms and assumptions around birth and maternity care. Then immerse all of this in our sexist patriarchal world where female-dominated/nurturing  professions, women’s work, emotional labor, and women’s bodies are not valued, and why invest in this sort of service?

Let’s take a closer look.

1. Money isn’t inherently good or evil. It’s a tool we use to exchange goods and services. And yes, it is a necessity. A pregnant person needs it to cover various medical and newborn essentials, and a doula needs it to compensate her time and professional expenses. Sure, it can feel good to do doula work, but warm fuzzy feelings still don’t pay the rent. Expecting doulas to work for little or free also promotes a lack of diversity in the doula community.

It benefits everyone when we treat ourselves, our work, and our time with respect and value. For better or worse, the main way to show value and respect in today’s world is with money.

2. Something can be your calling and you can be awesome at it and love it and being paid well doesn’t change any of that. These things don’t cancel each other out! This is an issue in the nonprofit world, too, and teaching. We have this weird assumption that if you are working to better the world, you should be content with low pay. This leads to resentment and burn-out of excellent talent. Everyone loses! Investing in great people is important and beneficial all around.

3. Volunteering—not everyone can afford to do it. It takes time and time is money. There are many ways to give back and you have to do what works for you and your family. Also, volunteering as a doula is unique. For example, if I volunteer at a homeless shelter a few hours a month, I can schedule it and make changes when necessary. Volunteering as a doula is very different—the demands of life on call, the unpredictability of when labor will start and how long it will last, prepping back-up and childcare, the intense emotional and physical toll—this makes volunteering as a doula a very different sort of commitment. Of course, it can be joyful. It’s still a tremendous undertaking.

4. And it’s important to check our egos. No one is irreplaceable, certainly not a doula. In Lamaze’s 6 Healthy Birth Practices, support is the necessity, not a doula.

So, how do we truly make birth better for parents and babies? Access to better evidence-based health care, growing the midwifery model of care, education, and access to contraception. More immediately, encouraging people to find a care provider and birth location that feels best for them, when options are possible.

And how can we make birth work sustainable for doulas?

  • good compensation—the ability to pay for business and personal needs comfortably and not burn out
  • a support network and positive relationships with other birth professionals
  • insurance reimbursement would increase access to doula care and help doulas make a living
  • different models of doula care, like hospital-based programs (e.g., working pre-scheduled shifts) or collectives and nonprofits such as Ancient Song or Operation Special Delivery, which are able to offer more affordable doula options to clients while still fairly compensating the doula for her work


The necessity for birthing parents is physical, emotional, and informational support for the birth experience. And one of the best ways (but certainly not the only way) to get this support is through hiring a doula—which is a luxury! As birth professionals, our goal should be to help create a reality that meets these needs without sacrificing our own health and livelihood in the process.


Further reading:

Midwifery and International Maternity Care—Marsden Wagner on how to improve birth outcomes in the US and globally

Birth by the Numbers—excellent collection of reports and short videos on birth statistics in the US and globally.

Recent podcasts on the importance of saying no and setting boundaries, and the push-back we get when we prioritize ourselves:

Flatbush Doulas owner Yael Yisrael talks to doulas about the importance of paid work:

Doula Ariel Swift on being a Scapegoat Doula


[cover photo: Goldie Hawn as the quintessential ‘rich bitch’ in the movie Overboard! (1987)]

learning birth stuff

In the months and weeks leading up to your first baby’s arrival, it can feel like your to-do list is a mile long and there are 5,000 baby supplies that you MUST have and what do they do and where do you put them? Add to that the emotions and unpredictability of this major life change and it can feel like a bit … much.

Somewhere on most people’s lengthy list is taking a childbirth class. Maybe you are hoping for a certain kind of birth or maybe you just figure you should know a little more about what the hell’s going to happen on the big day or maybe your friends suggested it. In any case, you find one, pay up, and hopefully find it useful.

On an online message board for parents, someone was recently seeking advice about which class to take. Some people replied with strong recommendations, but most thought that the classes were a waste of time, that anything they learned flew right out the window once labor set in. This caught my attention as I now offer childbirth ed and I sure don’t want anyone to feel they’ve wasted their time and money. New Yorkers are busy as fuck and have no time for bullshit. This is why I chose to train with Your Birth Experience. I wanted to be able to offer clients something tailor-made, worthwhile, a perfect fit for anyone’s budget, availability, and questions. Something that cuts through the crap and offers the best information to support them through their birth experience.

While every course is individualized, it’s still helpful for me to hear what worked and what didn’t for others. Whether you took a class or not, it would be great if you could take and share this survey! You even get a chance to win an amazon gift card! My clients and I thank you for your help.


stacking the odds










what’s in a name?


People ask me all the time where the name “postmodern childbirth” comes from. I’ve probably been asked 3 times in 5 years, and I think 2 of those came from the same person. I thought it was time to finally answer this burning question.

I was in academia for a long time. Too long. (Hmm, that might be a theme with me– overstaying my welcome. But I digress.) One day while working in the beautiful Rose Reading Room of the main branch of the New York Public Library, I was daydreaming about being done with my studies and able to pursue doula work. I was reading yet another postmodern theorist and trying to figure out what the hell it had to do with my research. And while there are some postmodern writers who I truly enjoy (what up, Zygmunt Bauman), and I generally like the concept, there are many who are just spewing pretentious nonsense. It’s a real life version of The Emperor’s New Clothes.

I had started doing some doula work and wanted a name for the business. I didn’t want something place-based; it wasn’t interesting to me. I didn’t want to go the whole beautiful birthing belly radiant lotus yoni mother earth; it’s been done. Really done. I was trying to think of something unique and meaningful to me. It was one day, painfully slogging through yet another tome of dry academic blather, that “postmodern childbirth” came to mind. It was a nod to the world I was eager to escape, and also an acknowledgement that contemporary US women are, in fact, figuring out how to birth and parent in a postmodern world. I liked it.

Now both of you who have been dying to know the answer to this compelling mystery can finally sleep easy tonight. You’re welcome.

As for the elephants– I have always had a deep love for elephants. They are incredible creatures. I knew all along that I would incorporate them somehow. My talented friend Nicole Truelock designed my logo and color scheme.

photo courtesy of Michael M.S. via flikr creative commons


What’s your #1 Breastfeeding Question?

Nursing my older son at about 4 weeks old, 2007. Last good hair day.

I attended a Breastfeeding Preparation class last week as part of my DONA doula certification requirement. An important part of the doula role is supporting new moms in breastfeeding, and even though I nursed one son for 14 months and am three months into nursing baby #2, I knew I’d pick up some good tips to help other mothers. I was also interested to see how the class was set up and how the information was presented.

Before we started, the instructor had us introduce ourselves and share our most pressing questions about breastfeeding. All of the moms-to-be wondered most: When can I supplement with formula and/or a nighttime bottle? While this was an exceptionally small homogeneous sample size of just four expectant mothers, I thought this was very interesting– both the question itself and that they all shared it as their most burning question on breastfeeding.

Does it mean they’ve heard breastfeeding is really hard and they will have to supplement or resort to Plan B? Have they heard sleep deprivation horror stories and want to be sure their partner can help with feedings? Probably. It also came out later in the conversation that one of the moms was concerned about her partner having a chance to bond with the baby through feedings. A friend of hers feels like he hasn’t been able to connect with his newborn since the mother is exclusively breastfeeding.

I can’t recall now what my most burning breastfeeding question was before that adventure began. I’d like to think it was ‘what can I do to ensure a successful breastfeeding relationship?’ I’d heard the stories from my friends and knew it could be really rough in the beginning. I wanted to be ready to tackle the challenges and make it work (a la Tim Gunn). I think I also assumed it would be mostly fine, as my mother breastfed four children, it’s as natural as can be, I’m committed, so what could go wrong?

Well, that’s a long story for another post– but we did figure it out after a grueling few months and I don’t regret a thing. When I was struggling, a friend told me, “breastfeeding goes from being the worst thing in the world, to the best thing in the world.” This piece of advice helped me to stay committed and see it through until we were on the other side.

So, what about you?

What was your number one question about breastfeeding before you began?

What is your number one tip to mothers-to-be who are planning to nurse?