What will you do with your placenta?

mombod · May 2017

Things are getting boring over here. Tell us what you plan to do with your placenta.

Stankonia2014 · May 2017

mombod · May 2017

Stankonia2014 · May 2017

Ideally I would've encapsulated it, but I really procrastinated on getting that process started.

mombod · May 2017

Last time I planned to encapsulate it but its expensive. My midwife said she only suggests it if you have a history of depression or PPD bc otherwise she didnt feel it was worth the money. I ended up ok so Im not doing it this time either. I however examined it in detail and will again bc holy shit its an organ?!

rmarble23 · May 2017

so fun fact....i work in a vascular clinic and we just got this new product available to us to help with wounds. if a patient has a wound that isn't healing they will get this skin or skin product and apply to the wound. the new product is either placenta or cord depending on the type of product needed as cord is much thicker and durable. now in order to donate your cord or placenta you need to have a c-section but i thought this was really cool. your babies placenta could end up on someone's leg and help them save that leg from amputation.

lovesclimbing · May 2017

I want to look at it because I think it'd be interesting. No desire to encapsulate it. Yea, it's expensive. $200 at my practice. Also, the placenta is, among other things, a filter for waste products. Not sure I want to be eating that.

I hear people say "Every other mammal eats it so why shouldn't I." Now if people want to eat it and have reasons, fine, even if I don't agree with them, but that seems to be a particularly dumb argument for eating it. There are a heck of a lot of things that humans don't do that all other mammals do and vice versa.

JennMof3 · May 2017

Exactly where it's gone the last 3 times in the medical waste bucket or whatever. I appreciate all its done for me and baby thus far but I'm 100% ok not seeing it.

n0soup4u · May 2017

Probably going to make some beef jerky out of it......

erinh84 · May 2017

I voted for throw that sh*t away. I looked at it last time out of curiosity and got super grossed out. Then again, I'm one of those people who gets grossed out really easily.

shmarpler · May 2017

I didn't get to look at mine last time, so I asked DH to take pictures of it with my phone. He did, and I keep forgetting. I go back looking at baby pictures, and then see the nasty. For whatever reason I just can't seem to delete them.

Elyse1384 · May 2017

Throw that shit away please

Kylieslip24 · May 2017

lovesclimbing said:

I want to look at it because I think it'd be interesting. No desire to encapsulate it. Yea, it's expensive. $200 at my practice. Also, the placenta is, among other things, a filter for waste products. Not sure I want to be eating that.

I hear people say "Every other mammal eats it so why shouldn't I." Now if people want to eat it and have reasons, fine, even if I don't agree with them, but that seems to be a particularly dumb argument for eating it. There are a heck of a lot of things that humans don't do that all other mammals do and vice versa.

My mil who grew up on a farm and knows her stuff about animals says that animals eat it to protect herself and her young from predators, this makes sense to me predators would smell the blood and stuff so they instinctively clean it in the only way they know how. She said they once had a pig that had a ton of babies, but she rolled on almost all of them and killed them. She said not only do they eat the placentas but any dead babies too.

I want to see mine this time and I'm pretty sure my midwives will show me even if I don't ask, they are like that. My ob showed dh last time and I was too out of it to notice. He still talks about how cool it was that there was a big old dent in it where it lay on my fibroid. I've got to see this time so I know what he's talking about.

lmudra · May 2017

I want to look at it and take a pic preferably one with the baby still attached laying in the bed.

mtvkv5 · May 2017

I think I'd probably be ok if I caught a glance, but I find it way too disgusting to think about eating or burying it!

wife-and-mommy · May 2017

FTM. Just pre-registered at the hospital and they gave me a dorm to check my labor and delivery preferences. I did not check the box to see the placenta. I have not looked into any benefits of saving it and/or consuming it in any form. But now I'm going to look into it a little bit @mombod bc I have a history of depression and I'm almost positive my mom had PPD. It sounds gross though and I don't even like to take my prenatal vitamins.
Edit to add: The first few articles of a quick Google search didn't have any solid research to site. It doesn't sound like a sure enough benefit to me so I'll stick with letting them throw it away.

ladylolly89 · May 2017

I accidentally saw mine after it was delivered last time. No thank you! I know to look away this time. I have a very strong stomach but I just don't need to see that.

shmarpler · May 2017

lmudra said:

I want to look at it and take a pic preferably one with the baby still attached laying in the bed.

SITB

I like this idea!

keniialise · May 2017

My first delivery my ob was all excited about the placenta and convinced my husband to play with it.. she's like "here jab it here, watch it jiggle." Thankfully I was preoccupied with baby to even care.

halfthetree · May 2017

I'm going to either have half of each encapsulated and then plant the other halfs under their tree (I plant a tree for each kid), or encapsulate both and have some pulls left for menopause.
if it's the weirdest thing I do, I'm ok with that

wifeinraleigh28 · May 2017

I'll be taking a quick peek before that shit gets thrown away

mombod · May 2017

@halfthetree did you encapsulate it with your other births? Do you feel it benefited you in terms of milk production and hormone balance? Also are you doing it yourself of does someone in your doula circle do it?

Knottie42089123 · May 2017

My OB scared me out of encapsulating it. What happens when it's buried?

Wino0920 · May 2017

I would encapsulate it, but always drop the ball. I am so Fascinated by pregnancy, I want to see everything. I watch my births on the mirror and definitely ask to see my placenta. I don't think they are gross at all.

mombod · May 2017

So Im back again with more questions bc obviously this topic fascinates me. Someone responded they are having a lotus birth. Im so curious on the logistics. How do you carry it around? Is it wrapped in something special? Does it smell? When does it typically fall off? What do you do with it then?

alm52386 · May 2017

We had our water birth class last night and in one of the videos they show the placenta and I'm sure DH will look at it but I probably won't!

Also, is a lotus birth where the cord and placenta stay attached until it falls off? Like @mombod I'm curious how this works! We will do delayed cord clamping but that's only for like 5 minutes.

halfthetree · May 2017

@mombod I'll probably just have it done here, get one of my 3 doulas to start it for me. We have people who do it here, but the one I trusted and recommended no longer does it, and I'm not sold on the others quality and standards.

i had it done with my last, and had to actually wait to take it because I usually have a huge over supply. But I did notice a massive hormonal balancing effect. The days I was weepy and struggling (we moved away at 8 days pp), was the days that I missed. Even if it is pure placebo effect, it worked, so I'm not messing with that!

A lotus birth is generally the placenta cleaned and sealed or wrapped with salt, herbs and doesn't smell. It's usually wrapped in a special fabric or some sort of special bag/bowl and sealed up. It's not meant to be carried around the house, it's sort of a symbolic way to keep baby close to Mom in bed, moms usually stay in bed until the cord seperates from baby. It falls off within the same time frame that the cord would, 5-8 days usually.

shmarpler · May 2017

halfthetree said:

@mombod I'll probably just have it done here, get one of my 3 doulas to start it for me. We have people who do it here, but the one I trusted and recommended no longer does it, and I'm not sold on the others quality and standards.

i had it done with my last, and had to actually wait to take it because I usually have a huge over supply. But I did notice a massive hormonal balancing effect. The days I was weepy and struggling (we moved away at 8 days pp), was the days that I missed. Even if it is pure placebo effect, it worked, so I'm not messing with that!

A lotus birth is generally the placenta cleaned and sealed or wrapped with salt, herbs and doesn't smell. It's usually wrapped in a special fabric or some sort of special bag/bowl and sealed up. It's not meant to be carried around the house, it's sort of a symbolic way to keep baby close to Mom in bed, moms usually stay in bed until the cord seperates from baby. It falls off within the same time frame that the cord would, 5-8 days usually.

How much of the cord is exposed? Is it also treated somehow? DD's didn't fall off until a week, and her little stub got smelly, but maybe I didn't care for it properly?

halfthetree · May 2017

@shmarpler The majority of the cord will be exposed, it will dry fairly quickly. It will likely smell a little bit, just like any sore that heals, or any umbilical cord stump really. I've been told it's kind of like an ear piercing healing? I've never personally done it, just had clients and friends do it.

Knottie42089123 · May 2017

What are safety standards one should look for if they're getting their placenta encapsulated @halfthetree ? That's what scares me off when my OB and I talked about it.

lifeislove87 · May 2017

I'm really interested to see my placenta because of all the grief it's been giving me (it's matured and a lot of it is calcified), I feel like it will be cool to see, because I'm a nerd

BellaO21 · May 2017

Throw that sh!t away!!! We are doing a delayed cord clamping so I don't think I will be able to avoid getting a glimpse at it.. however if I can avoid seeing it... I will... that stuff grosses me out.

Kylieslip24 · May 2017

BellaO21 said:

Throw that sh!t away!!! We are doing a delayed cord clamping so I don't think I will be able to avoid getting a glimpse at it.. however if I can avoid seeing it... I will... that stuff grosses me out.

We did delayed cord clamping with dd and I never saw it. It stayed down with my legs and she was on my chest attatched. If you don't want to see it I'm sure the Drs/nurses can accommodate that.

ellie111227 · May 2017

Kylieslip24 said:

BellaO21 said:

Throw that sh!t away!!! We are doing a delayed cord clamping so I don't think I will be able to avoid getting a glimpse at it.. however if I can avoid seeing it... I will... that stuff grosses me out.

We did delayed cord clamping with dd and I never saw it. It stayed down with my legs and she was on my chest attatched. If you don't want to see it I'm sure the Drs/nurses can accommodate that.

Same here. I actually don't even know where it was. But it wasn't up by me and dd, and I didn't even think about it. My doula commented that it "looked healthy" later when the cord had been cut, and i was momentarily curious, but not enough to stop looking at my new baby lol.

MrsCaliRN · May 2017

I encapsulated with DS and plan to do it again with this LO! Anyone out there happen to do the tinctures or legit eat their placenta?

lizerspitz · May 2017

My hospital is no longer accepting cord or placenta donations brcausr the program they worked with in the past lost funding. It seems like such a waste. There is soooo much medical research that can be done with these organs.

danij0 · May 2017

Voted: I will look out of curiosity. The doc asked if I wanted to see it and I said sure. She pointed out the different parts to me. I thought it was pretty cool. We also donated the cord blood after they're normal NICU delayed clamping. No way we could afford the private banking so I was pretty excited to donate it since I work in research!

CapricaAndrea · May 2017

danij0 said:

Voted: I will look out of curiosity. The doc asked if I wanted to see it and I said sure. She pointed out the different parts to me. I thought it was pretty cool. We also donated the cord blood after they're normal NICU delayed clamping. No way we could afford the private banking so I was pretty excited to donate it since I work in research!

You were able to do delayed cord clamping and donate cord blood? I asked about doing that and was told that it was basically impossible to do both, as there's not enough left to donate after the DCC. Maybe it's just the policy where I am specifically though. I'd love to do both.

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