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Attachment Parenting
Doula hunting/placental encapsulation
I finally convinced DH that a doula is completely non-negotiable for us this time. Had our first phone interview and have 2 in person interviews in the next few weeks. I have no idea what else to ask her when we meet in person, besides figuring out if I'll be okay with any of them being in my personal space. Any tips on getting that figured out, or did you just know?
And as an aside, one of the women I'm meeting with also offers placental encapsulation for $250. Did anyone do that? It sounds intriguing, but I don't know if I'm there yet. I'm definitely not in the group that will take the placenta home with me and make a roast out of it 
But the encapsulation part I can almost handle.
Also, she recommended a documentary called "Orgasmic Birth" as a very good way to see natural childbirth. She said it was much better and less biased than "The Business of Being Born". Out of 11 couples the doc follows, only one has a true and obvious orgasmic birth, but I'm really interested to see it if only to check out the different coping methods the women use.
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Re: Doula hunting/placental encapsulation
So we asked our prospective doula questions just to get her talking, not to get any specific info...we wanted to hear her take on birth, her attitude, etc. So, we asked things like how she got into being a doula, which hospitals she thought were most amenable to natural childbirth, and to tell us about some of the most difficult births she had attended. We weren't looking for specific answers, we just knew that we wanted someone positive, flexible, and confident.
I have no idea about placental encapsulation, but Orgasmic Birth is a pretty funny / interesting video. We did hypnobirthing and I got more out of the HB class than I did out of the video....
Good luck!
Doula: we just knew. We had three recommended to us. The first one I called we had such an awesome phone conversation I decided to go for the face 2 face meeting. Face 2 Face went well so we signed up. For us we just asked a lot of questions about her role in labor and she went from there.
Placenta encapsulation: I am totally intrigued by this and may do it second time around. Please post more info here if you do it. Would love to know if you think it aids in your recovery compared to your first birth.
Orgasmic birth: DH and I watched this. It was interesting. DH found it helpful because he had never seen women in labor other than on TV shows for comedic or dramatic effect. He found it reassuring that they were not screaming at their husbands.
I didn't know what placental encapsulation was, so I did a little searching and found this. It is graphic and involves photos, so be warned, but I found it very interesting!
https://www.cafemom.com/journals/read/1577334/Placenta_Encapsulation_Instructions_w_Pictures
This is her site, with info on the placental encapsulation: https://www.stlouisdoula.net/Services/Placenta_Encapsulation.html
If you scroll to the bottom, there is a link to recipes you can make with the placenta. Like I said, that's going a little far for my comfort level but I'm really intrigued by the idea that placental encapsulation can prevent/treat PPD. I didn't suffer from it with my son, but I like anything that will help prevent those awful hormone related mood swings!
We just knew when we met our doula and chatted with her for about 20 minutes that she was the one for us.
My BFF had her placenta encapsulated...apparently the women in her family do that and save them for help during menopause. Fascinating!
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
I didn't have a Doula because my midwives really were all the support I needed.I'd think it's more about how you feel with her then about her answers to questions though.
I did however have something done with my placenta! This is going to sound a little gross, so just bear with me and have an open mind! (no judging!)
After saying I didn't want my placenta, my mom (one of my midwives) took it home and cut off tiny little pill sized pieces. She then froze the pieces separately from the rest of my placenta. When "baby blues" starting hitting REAL hard (maybe a little PPD) I swallowed a piece of frozen placenta- just like a pill. I could tell a difference within hours. I took one again a few weeks after that when I felt like I needed it again. I was AMAZED at how well it worked!!
The rest of my placenta is apparently still in my moms freezer (not her food freezer in the house!) and she wants to make me capsules for menopause. I'm totally okay with that considering how well it worked after the birth!
As for Orgasmic Birth....I think it's great to see how birth CAN be. Calm, relaxing etc. I actually do know someone who had 2 orgasmic births. Kind of odd to me, but I guess my calm, relaxing, meditative home birth was kind of odd to some people too!
With our doula, it was a phone interview first, then we met in person. We had great chemistry and I felt comfortable around her. We didn't ask a ton of specific questions, mostly she just told us about herself and we decided we liked her.
I did the placenta encapsulation and it was awesome! I highly recommend it. I told the doula that I didn't want to see it or think about it at all, just bring me the pills, haha! She took care of the whole process and brought the pills to me a couple days later. I stopped taking them after about a week but then felt really emotional again so I started taking them again and felt better, so I really think it worked for me.
I ordered the kit from this website and my MWs did most of the work and then DH and his Mom did the final grinding (we bought a hand grinder and then threw it out LOL) and encapsulation part. DH said it was a bit weird, but not gross at that point. My MIL made a point of telling me that she wouldn't have done it for just anyone! LOL
I have a history of depression and read that consuming your placenta can help to prevent PPD. It was well worth it for me because I really don't think I could have stomached the other alternatives.
I didn't have a doula. But I did do placenta encapsulation. I also went through placentabenefits.info, but I found a specialist in my area who could do it for me. The person came to my mom's house (I was still in the hospital), did the whole process, sterilized her kitchen before and after and was so amazing and professional about it. By time I was home, I had a blue jar of pills.
In my siggy is a link to my baby blog. In the sidebar is a link to all my posts about placenta encapsulation (my experiences) as well as links to articles and such about the process.