Placenta Encapsulation

Placenta Encapsulation Services

“If you don’t know your options, you don’t have any.” ~ Diana Korte and Roberta Scaer, A Good Birth, A Safe Birth

Dalai Mama Placenta Services Fee List

Kendra Machen 360-874-1689

www.toothlessgrin.com

Placenta Capsules $275.00
Placenta Tincture $ 25.00
Keepsake Cord (free gift) with any of the paid options
My services are done in my office. If you prefer, I can come to your home and use your own kitchen and utensils for an added fee of $100.00. You’re free to photograph the process. Benefits and photo from my pinterest under “Dalai Mama”
Benefits of Encapsulation (links to Pinterest)

Dalai Mama ~ Your Birth Guru

Professional Placenta Encapsulation

We offer comprehensive Placenta Encapsulation Services. Pick up, encapsulation and delivery. Kendra has been involved in the birthing community for the past 12 years as a doula, midwife’s assistant, LLL Leader and CAPPA childbirth educator. She has been an encapsulation specialist since 2008 and will provide local references upon request.

Placenta encapsulation has been shown to help mothers avoid postpartum symptoms such as depression, low energy, fatigue, insufficient breast milk production and hormonal imbalance. Having your placenta processed into capsules could replenish the energy and nutrients you lost during pregnancy helping to avoid on lessen these challenges.

Placenta Capsules

Placenta encapsulation has been practiced in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries. We process your placenta in capsules, allowing you to reap the benefits of the placenta without having to do the physical labor yourself. You have more time to bond with the new baby.

Why Consider Placenta Beneficial in Postpartum?

Your placenta is rich with your own bio-specific hormones and healing properties:

Gonadotropin: the precursor to estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
Prolactin: promotes lactation.
Oxytocin: for pain and bonding; produced during breastfeeding to facilitate bonding of mother and infant. In pharmaceutical form this is a very addictive drug because it promotes a feeling of connectedness with others.
Thyroid stimulating hormone: boosts energy and helps recovery from stressful events.
Cortisone: combats stress and unlocks energy stores.
Interferon: stimulates the immune system to protect against infections.
Prostaglandins: anti-inflammatory.
Hemoglobin: replenishes iron deficiency and anemia, a common postpartum condition.
Urokinase inhibiting factor and factor XIII: stops bleeding and enhances wound healing.
Gammaglobulin: immune booster that helps protect against postpartum infections.

Thank you Placenta Bakery.com for this list of placenta capsule benefits!

Disclaimer: The information on this page has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The services we offer 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 for their alternative care choices.

We Offer Pickup and Delivery in:

Kitsap County, Pierce County, Mason County

Just Some of the Communities We Serve:

Tacoma and surrounding areas, Gig Harbor, Purdy, Key Center, Vaughn, Port Orchard, Olalla, Manchester, Bremerton, Gorst, Silverdale, Belfair, Allyn, Shelton, Union, Elma, Grapeview, Tahuya and many others!

We pickup your placenta from the hospital, birth center or your home. We then clean, steam, dehydrate, grind and encapsulate your placenta. Your capsules will be packaged in a glass jar to protect them from moisture and then delivered back to you.

Fee: $275 paid by week 37 of your pregnancy holds a spot on my calendar/schedule. If paid after week 37 and my schedule still has openings, the fee is $300. We accept checks and cash,

Add-on Services:

Home Encapsulation: Complete the full encapsulation process in your home, including disinfection before & after, add $100 to our fee.
Twin Placenta Encapsulation: an additional fee of $60.

Placenta Encapsulation Workshop Trainings I offer these trainings in your space. If you desire a workshop for yourself and at least 4 others, I’m happy to come to your space. This workshop lasts 4 hours and the fee is $100 per person. The host takes the workshop for free. Please call to ask about date availabilities and registration. Each attendee receives a frameable attendance certificate.

Things to Consider ~

How can I best care for and store my placenta until picked up?
As quickly as your care provider has examined your placenta, the placenta should be placed into a food-grade container or bag, sealed tightly and refrigerated or placed on ice.

For Hospital Births~ Hospital staffs are very busy and can easily be distracted. Your placenta could accidentally be discarded or sent to pathology where it could be ruined for encapsulation. Your placenta is not their highest priority. Most hospitals will accommodate your desire to take the placenta home by preparing it for transport, but once packaged they will not accept any responsibility for proper storage of it during your stay. You, your partner or doula, must take responsibility to keep an eye on your placenta.

I recommend that either your birthing partner or doula be in charge of the placenta once it is birthed so that it is properly stored and not lost or damaged. It is always best to be prepared for unexpected situations. Bring a cooler and some gallon sized zip lock bags to the hospital with you.

Hospital staff will usually place the placenta inside some sort of container that is sealed, labeled, and then placed inside of a bio-hazard bag that is then also sealed. If your hospital staff does not package the placenta for you in this manner, you can always double bag the placenta in two gallon sized zip lock bags.

Within the first hour or so after the birth, fill the cooler with ice and place the entire packaged placenta inside. As long as the container/bag that the placenta is in, is set on top of ice it will keep until you can take it home and get it into the refrigerator or until it is picked up.

If you forget a cooler simply take the tub that you are given in your hospital room (washing/baby bath tub) and fill it with ice to place the packaged placenta on the ice. Cover the whole thing with a towel or receiving blanket. As long as it is kept cool it will be fine until you can take it home and get it into the refrigerator or it is picked up.

For Birthing Center Births~
Our local birth center midwives are very kind and will double bag the placenta for you in gallon sized zip lock bags so you can promptly take it home with you to be refrigerated or until it is picked up. Again, be sure to make your plans known, ahead of time.

For Planned Home Births~
Double bag the placenta in two- gallon sized zip lock bags. Within the first hour after midwife inspection of the placenta, be sure that it is either placed on ice or placed in your refrigerator until pick up. Even if you plan a homebirth, be prepared for the remote possibility that you could end up transferring to hospital and have your desires written down (ahead of time) for your placenta.

What if the hospital won’t allow me to take my placenta home?
The hospitals in our area all have policies that allow for a mom to take her healthy placenta home with her for any reason (cultural, religious, nutrition, etc.) Some will require a release of liability waiver to be signed, but most will not require anything but you ask.

You should tell your care provider ahead of time that you plan to take your placenta home and write it in your birth plan. This way if there is an issue, you can deal with it before you are in labor. I also recommend that you mention your intentions again upon admission and then again once the placenta is birthed. Be friendly and cooperative when discussing your intentions to take home your placenta.

You do not need to share with your Care Provider or hospital staff what you intend to do with the placenta, just that you would like to have it after your baby is born. Doctors do not always know the details of hospital policies – nurses spend the majority of time with patients, and they will be the ones who can best help you with your placenta. Call the hospital and ask to talk to a charge nurse. Express your desire to have your placenta, and ask about the hospital’s policy for releasing them.

What if my placenta is sent to pathology?
In rare cases your care provider may feel that your placenta needs to go to pathology. If this does happen ask if they can do a visual exam in the delivery room instead, or see if a small piece sent to pathology would suffice instead of the entire placenta. If your physician feels the whole placenta is needed in pathology insist that they keep it refrigerated before and after examination, and that no solutions such as Formalin or Formaldehyde be used. If these solutions are used or if your placenta is allowed to spoil it can no longer be encapsulated.

What is the time limit (age of placenta) for encapsulation?
The encapsulation process should begin within 24-48 hours of the birth. The placenta will generally be suitable for consumption for 5 days (refrigerated the entire time), but the resulting capsules will not be as potent as when the encapsulation process begins within the first 24 hours of birth. They will still contain the iron and other vitamins and minerals that the postpartum woman will find helpful to her recovery.

If it is not possible to start the process within the first 48 hours of birth, the placenta should be promptly frozen. Double-bag the placenta in gallon-sized zip lock freezer bags, releasing as much air as possible from the bag. The placenta must be completely thawed before encapsulation, which will take at least 24-48 hours in the refrigerator. Do not thaw on the countertop.

Placentas should never be frozen, thawed, and then refrozen.

How long can my placenta be stored in the freezer before encapsulation?
Placentas that have been properly frozen (double-bagged and protected from freezer-burn) can be encapsulated up to six months after the birth.

When you have recovered from childbirth, you can even freeze the capsules and save them for future difficult transitions, such as the weaning of your child, perimenopause and menopause.

How do I know I will not receive someone else’s placenta?
There is no chance of an accidental switch or any cross contamination of any kind. All of my materials used are either disposable or thoroughly sanitized and disinfected according to federal and state standards. I encapsulate *one* placenta at a time so there is never a chance of confusion.

What type of equipment and supplies are used and how are they sterilized?
The supplies used during the placenta encapsulation process are all stainless steel, food grade plastic, or disposable. Everything is thoroughly washed with soap and hot water and sanitized in bleach solution and run through a very hot water and hot dry cycle, machine dishwasher. I follow the same guidelines for cleanliness and sanitation that are used in food service establishments.
Do I need to provide any supplies for encapsulation?
No. I provide all the necessary materials for the placenta encapsulation process. All you need to provide is your placenta.

What is the dosage to take my placenta capsules?
I am not a licensed health care professional and therefore, don’t prescribe. However, I will give you a card of suggested placenta capsule dosage ideas. These ideas have been collected by me from area midwives and women who have used their own placenta with success.

Are there instances when I should stop taking my placenta capsules?
If you develop any infection such as mastitis, flu, or a common cold it is recommended that you discontinue use until the illness/infection completely clears.

How should I store my placenta capsules?
After the encapsulation process is completed placenta capsules will be placed in a sealed glass jar and should be kept dry and away from direct sunlight. I recommend refrigerating placenta capsules for maximum freshness and for long term storage they should be kept in the freezer.

What method of preparation do you use for encapsulation?
I personally use the Traditional Chinese Medicine Method that has been used for centuries and offers more of a even building of energy for the postpartum mother. I feel that this method is optimal in gathering the most benefits of the placenta. This method has been passed to me in my training by local homebirth midwives who taught me this are of encapsulation.
Some additional reasons I practice the TCM method of placenta encapsulation are:

– Steaming the placenta helps to kill harmful bacteria and can help protect against any potential illnesses from bacteria allowed to culture on the placenta before encapsulation.

– 5000 years of experience shows that the TCM method of preparations works to create a potent placenta remedy through cooking.

– All other (pre-industrial) cultures with a tradition of placenta consumption use some form of cooking, curing, or tincturing, except when immediately used to curb bleeding during the birthing time.

– Steaming and dehydration does not destroy the beneficial hormones, and actually may make them more available to the mother when consumed.

PLEASE NOTE: The information on this page has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The services I offer 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 for using the remedies at their own risk.

Placenta Related Research and Studies

Please consider very carefully your different options and choices. Do your own research by speaking with other mothers who have used placenta remedies for health benefits, as well as searching online sources. There are multitudes of websites available with further information.
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