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?!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
@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?
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.
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?
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.
@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.
@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?
@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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Re: What will you do with your placenta?
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.
Throw that shit away please
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.
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.
if it's the weirdest thing I do, I'm ok with that
Me: 34, DH: 38 ~ TTC since 2014
IUI #1-3 (Nov 2015, Feb 2016, May 2016) = BFNs
IVF ER (July 2016) = 7 PGS normal embryos
FET #1 (Sept 2016) = BFP! DD born 5/30/17
FET #2 (April 2019) = BFN
FET #3 (July 2019) = BFP! DS born 3/27/20
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.
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.
Me: 31 DH: 34
Married 11/09/2013
LO#1: LMP 09/14/2014 BFP 10/15/2014 EDD 06/24/2015 DS Born 06/14/2015
LO#2: LMP 09/18/2016 BFP 10/19/2016 EDD 06/27/2017 DD Born 06/27/2017
LO#3: LMP 05/16/2018 BFP 06/18/2018 EDD 02/20/2019
MC 4/15
BFP 10/10/16
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!