How to Reserve Placenta Encapsulation Services with My San Diego Doula
So, you know that you want to encapsulate your placenta and you know that you want My San Diego Placenta to do it! We are honored to be a part of this journey with you and hope to assist you with the smoothest transition into mothering as possible. Here are the final steps to making sure you have a hassle-free postpartum experience with a little bit of work you can do ahead of time:
#1. Make sure that you have filled out our e-contract and paid your deposit. This is the documentation we need to safely and efficiently provide you with encapsulation service. It's important for you to acknowledge the protocols and process we use and to understand what our responsibilities are and what your responsibilities are. We are big on communication so if anything comes up that you have more questions about or require clarity, we are happy to assist. A deposit of $50 is required to secure your due date to our client calendar. The easiest way to make a payment is to use our email address to make a PayPal transaction. The deposit is due at time of contract and the remainder is due by 37 weeks. If you are securing your placenta services at or after 37 weeks the entire fee will be due. Talk with us if other arrangements need to be made, we are flexibility when it comes to creating as much access to placenta encapsulation as possible for those who truly require a consideration.
#2. Once your contract and deposit is made its time to check your prenatal records. We require a negative result for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV for the current pregnancy. Standard prenatal labs usually consist of Hep B and HIV but it may not be standard for Hep C to be covered (and some not even HIV). You can gain copies of your records by calling your care provider's office or asking at your next prenatal visit. If you find that you are missing these tests you can easily ask for lab orders from your OB or midwife and have them completed as quickly as you want to. We always recommend that you get this taken care of sooner than later because we will not be able to handle your placenta without verifying the results. If you test positive for either of the 3 diseases we are still able to process your placenta for you, however it will occur in your home and potentially include some additional costs and planning. Certainly talk with us about this if this is the case for you.
#3. Next on your list after getting your contract, deposit and labs in order is to make sure you have spoken with your care provider and place of birth (hospital, birth center) to see what their policies are about keeping your placenta for personal use. In San Diego alone we have a variety of policies from all different hospitals. Some need the placenta to stay in your room with you for at least 24 hours; some need the placenta to leave the premises within 3 hours, and all variations in between. Can you believe there was a hospital in San Diego who had a placenta policy to deny release to everyone?! You literally were not allowed to have your own placenta, people were having to "steal" it for themselves only just 3 years ago. Crazy. So bottom line, know the rules and policies you are working with so that if anything appears to be outside of normal we can help you navigate it ahead of time. This will also affect our planning on picking it up from you after birth so it's a good thing to touch base on for that reason as well. Ideally, we want to process it as soon and as quickly as possible.
#4. Finally, make sure a small cooler makes it onto your list of birth supplies to have with you. If you are having a homebirth, your own fridge is enough. If you are birthing at hospital or birth center you will want to have a 6 pack sized cooler along with you to store the placenta. The facility is usually happy to provide ice for this. When you are in labor you will want to remind the team assisting with your birth that you intend to keep your placenta, you can't have too many reminders for others! And you may want to assign your doula or partner to keeping an eye on it for you. It's important that it doesn't leave your delivery room so that we can be certain it has avoided contamination. If your care provider wants to do any kind of testing on it, give your placenta specialist a call so we can try to compromise a way for them to get their testing and done and still preserve the safety of consuming your placenta.
This about wraps up what you need to know ahead of birthing to make sure your placenta services go as smoothly as possible the day your baby is born! Questions? That's what we are here for! Send us an email or give us a call.
Tiffany Alblinger has been a birth doula since becoming a mother 2010 and has been providing placenta encapsulation since 2014. She especially had enjoyed writing about birth and placentas during her 6 years of birth work. Tiffany happily serves all of San Diego, but provides the speediest placenta encapsulation service to the Encinitas, Carlsbad, Del Mar and Poway areas. Contact her today about placenta encapsulation!
