Moments
birth education, birth support, postpartum support, nourishment
Jess Baumgardner
I'm a health coach, doula and mom - my clients call me their wellness and birth concierge. I support people giving birth during every step of the journey - before, during and after. I want your experience of parenthood, at all stages, to leave you feeling deeply held, and prepared and confident in what's next.
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birth education, birth support, postpartum support, nourishment
Jess Baumgardner
I'm a health coach, doula and mom - my clients call me their wellness and birth concierge. I support people giving birth during every step of the journey - before, during and after. I want your experience of parenthood, at all stages, to leave you feeling deeply held, and prepared and confident in what's next.
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“If you have energy, time or finances to give - support the ultimate job on earth - birth and postpartum.“
- Jess Baumgardner
- Jess Baumgardner
My Mission
To support moms from bumps, to birth, to wellbeing.
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Placenta Encapsulation
Our bodies are so amazing. I wish I paid more attention to what the body does during pregnancy and childbirth (any kind, and any way) with my first child. Bookending my fourth is when I really started to study everything in more detail and appreciate just how much we do to bring life into this world.
So, let’s break down placenta encapsulation.
The body literally grows a new organ (the placenta) which gives a baby exactly what they need every day until they are born. It develops in the uterus during pregnancy and provides oxygen, nourishes, and removes waste for the baby.
And after all of these amazing things happen...it’s thrown in the trash.
Gulp.
I’m not sure about your experience, but I've never even been asked if I wanted to, you know, keep that pretty essential part of my pregnancy and birthing experience that just exited my body. I feel like that would be the respectful thing to do, no?
So I held on to that sucker - three times - and usually, yes, I am met with some weird looks. Even still!
BTW: In case you are wondering, my third was covered in meconium (aka baby’s first poop) and I was too in shock from a quick birth to argue about keeping it. But here is why I hold on to it each time.
-It contains small amounts of oxytocin (AKA the “love” or “bonding” or “cuddle” hormone), the hormone that helps you bond with your baby and eases the stress of birth.
-Oxytocin also stimulates the ejection of milk into the breast for nursing.
-There are many nutrients, vitamins, and hormones found in the placenta that are suggested to help you to recover from aspects of childbirth—both physical and emotional. Encapsulating your placenta may deliver them back to your body, possibly speeding up your physical recovery time and aiding in a smooth transition from pregnancy to postpartum.
When you encapsulate the placenta - you are preserving all of those amazing things that sustained your baby for months and are using them up instead of tossing them. Outside of the points I made above - it just makes sense to me.
Now there are many ways you can deliver these potential benefits back to yourself - from capsules to tinctures and more. To me, the capsules are the easiest way to consume the placenta because the taste will be most camouflaged inside of a capsule. From experience - there is a slight metallic taste, or some encapsulators will actually be able to flavor it for you!
Here's a quick breakdown of what typically happens post birth:
-Before you deliver, you will need to set up arrangements with a placenta encapsulator. You may have someone local to you, but there are also some great companies who operate on a national level. They will give you specific instructions on how to handle the placenta, shipping, and consumption.
-You will need to tell your birthing team (nurses, doulas, etc.) that you are keeping the placenta. It needs to remain on ice until your encapsulator comes to pick it up, or you ship it out with one of their kits. For a hospital birth, bring a small cooler with you and have someone get a container of ice from the food/beverage room (there is always an ice maker!).
-Add a layer of ice to the bottom of the cooler, then double bag the placenta and drop it in. I always bring a few extra ziploc bags for this purpose. Cover the bagged placenta with several more layers of ice and close until you can transport. If you are unable to get it out within the next few hours - just be sure to continually have the ice monitored and refreshed.
-Most encapsulators will want you to ship it out same-day, or they will come to pick it up if you are local. Once your encapsulator receives the package - the placenta will be cleaned, dehydrated, and ground into a powder. The powder is added to capsules and sent back your way by mail. Usually this will return back to you within 1-3 days following birth.
Tip
The Day 3 Hormone Crash
Congratulations on bringing life into this world! Can you believe that your body did this?! It’s pretty wild, and has always been something I look back on when I doubt myself in other life areas. Dude, you created and birthed life.
I think by now we probably realize that our hormones play a huge role in the creation process. But they continue to be a major player during your labor, birth, and postpartum period as well. By the way–don’t let anyone tell you that postpartum is only the first six weeks after birth. Postpartum is actually, well, forever! But for the purpose of this post, we are going to focus on those first few days after the big event.
Understanding that a postnatal crash happens won’t necessarily make it feel better but knowing what to expect helps us put some things in place that can support us during that time. Understanding what I need to do to be prepared is kind of everything to me when it comes to pregnancy and postpartum. It’s like driving through a really bad snow storm, but you knew it was coming–so you have the snow tires on and you only drove a few minutes down the road. Versus not knowing, driving a convertible, and going on a 3 hour drive. You know?
You will (likely) feel a whirlwind of emotions a few days after birth, and I’m here to explain why that happens and let you know that it is a very normal biological process.
Alright so typically, your hormones are released by the ovaries during non-pregnancy times. Let’s focus on estrogen and progesterone for the time being. There is a whole feedback system throughout the body to determine how much you have and what is needed.
When you are pregnant, your placenta grows and starts to filter toxins as well as bring oxygen and nutrients to the baby. It also starts to secrete hormones, which is a fascinating shift! Hormones go up to high levels.
Next up: you have your birth. Baby leaves and so does the placenta. So what needs to happen is that your body has a dip in hormones to give the brain the message that it needs to get your body back to doing that hormone job it did pre-pregnancy. This dip and brain wake up typically happens around DAYS 3-5.
Everyone will experience this, but everyone will experience it differently. You might experience it but not feel the effects of it. Totally normal. Or, that bottoming out of hormones can affect your mood - you might be weepy, anxious, feeling out of sorts or out of control, mood swings. Plus - your milk is coming in, you might be uncomfortable, baby is fussy. Everything is kind of a disaster.
Your body should regulate within 24-48 hours, but this is a great time to plan for extra support! While it’s a great idea to work on birth plans, we should also be thinking of post-birth plans. That means having a support network in place especially around days 3-5. That could be friends, family, or a postpartum doula. Think about errands, food prep, babysitting other siblings, or even just someone to talk to and process with. And, if you experience something different or this lasts longer, or does not seem manageable, do not discount postpartum mood disorders! Tell those around you and your care team if you need help determining what is going on.
Jess Baumgardner
Doula, Childbirth Educator, Health Coach
Doula, Childbirth Educator, Health Coach