Placenta Encapsulation Specialists encapsulate women’s placentas for them so they can consume it after giving birth. When carefully and properly prepared for consumption, the placenta can nourish the postpartum mother just as it did for the baby in your womb. Through training, these specialists prepare and dehydrate the placenta, grind it up and put it in little vitamin like capsules so that mom can then take the capsules and get all the wonderful postpartum benefits.
This method is known as Placentophagy. Encapsulation is a great “middle ground” for those that want to have the healing benefits of consuming their placenta without actually having to eat it outright. You can hire a trained professional to come to your home to do the encapsulation process there or, depending on what state you live in, some will provide the services in their own personal sterile kitchens. When the encapsulation specialist hands you the capsules two days after the birth, you would have no idea there was placenta inside.
Some of the benefits of placenta encapsulation include:
• Faster postpartum recovery
• Less likely to have “baby blues” and can help ease symptoms of postpartum depression
• Increase to your breast milk supply (if you plan pump for your intended parents or donate it)
• Gives you a boost of energy
• Lessens the feeling of fatigue
• Hormonal balancing
Placenta encapsulation and surrogacy
How can you benefit from placenta encapsulation as a surrogate? All of the hormones that are in the placenta are your very own hormones even if the DNA of the baby you are carrying does not match your own. Giving birth is still giving birth, so as a surrogate you still have to go through these natural hormonal fluctuations. Typically, as a surrogate you get to rest more than a woman that also has to care for a newborn baby immediately after giving birth and that certainly does help with your recovery. However, placenta encapsulation can help you bounce back even quicker with a smoother transition back into your pre-pregnancy life.
All of the oxytocin in the encapsulated placenta will help ease any sad feelings and make the emotional transition a bit smoother for her. In addition, many surrogates provide breast milk to the intended parents for a certain amount of time after the birth. In some cases, the surrogate will provide breast milk for a long and extended period of time. When exclusively using a breast pump to express breast milk, it can be difficult to stimulate the breast enough to produce an adequate amount of milk both in a timely manner initially after the birth, as well as, for an extended period of time after that. This is because the breast pump isn’t as effective at stimulating and expressing milk as baby suckling at the breast is.
Typically, when taking the placenta capsules within two days of giving birth your milk supply will not only come in sooner but you will also have a larger supply one your milk comes in. This can make your breast milk pumping relationship with your pump much easier on you. You might even be willing to supply breast milk for a longer period of time because you will be expressing a larger milk quantity for each pumping session.
Accessibility to a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist and the rates for encapsulation services will vary based on where you live.
DISCLAIMER: The information on this page has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The services offered by any Placenta Encapsulation Specialists are not clinical, pharmaceutical, or intended to diagnose or treat any condition. Families who choose to utilize the services on this page take full responsibility of their own health and for researching and using the remedies discussed above.