You just had a baby and now you’re going to do what with the placenta? This mum can turn it into something that’s entirely edible. Really…!
Samantha Birch helps new mums. She’s not a doctor. She’s not a nurse. And, she’s not a midwife. So, what does she do? She’s a placenta encapsulation specialist. Yep. That’s totally a real thing.
For anywhere from $40 to $325 you too can get your placenta encapsulated. Hmm. If you’re wondering what that means, Birch (like other placenta encapsulation specialists) will take your placenta and turn it into pills that you can take. But, that’s not all.
Some encapsulation specialists turn the placenta into smoothies. Um, yum? Or, not. Birch doesn’t make smoothies, but she does make the pills along with face creams (for mum), baby bottom balms and tinctures that can be drunk with water or absorbed under the tongue.
Okay, so why ingest or slather on your placenta? Some say that it helps with healing after birth and may even help to stabilise that up and down postpartum mood. Oh, and those after-birth skin issues you’re having? Apparently, the cream can make those go away. Well, at least it’s said to improve the look and feel of your skin.
So, can just anyone encapsulate a placenta? It’s more of an art than just tossing the afterbirth into a blender and seeing what happens. Birch helped to form Placenta Services Australia (PSA), a national body that regulates the practice of encapsulation. PSA offers information on practitioners who consider themselves placenta encapsulators, dividing them into verified and non-verified. Verified encapsulators have provided evidence that they have formal training or certification (from an overseas placenta encapsulation training body), or that they some form of accredited training in food safety and blood borne pathogens.
Even though there is no formal certification, a verified encapsulation provider is likely to have the training and/or experience necessary to safely and effectively turn that placenta of yours into something you can chew on. If that’s what you want.
Hey, if you don’t believe that eating your placenta is a ‘thing’, some pretty famous faces have used this totally natural remedy to bounce back after baby. Kim Kardashian revealed that she would eat her placenta (in pill form) after having her second baby, Saint West. Like Kardashian, actresses Alicia Silverstone and January Jones also popped their placenta in pill form. Along with the celebs who are all about eating placenta pills, plenty of regular mums are into it too. Birch works with between 100 and 150 new mums each year. That’s a lot of placenta products. Right?
Would you? Tell us your opinion or experience below!
