<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:

def _request_post_helper(self, url, params=None):
        '''API POST helper'''
        if self.api_key:
            query = {'api_key': self.api_key}
        return requests.post(url, params=query, data=params, timeout=60)