Testimonial Tuesday: Placenta Encapsulation After Cesarean Birth

Cesareans can add another layer of challenge to postpartum recovery. Placenta Encapsulation can be especially helpful during this time. Natalina G, from San Diego, shares her experience:

"I first heard about placenta encapsulation reading an US weekly (or some other embarrassing publication) when January Jones spoke about how she encapsulated her placenta. My first thought was utter disgust, what the heck do these hippies in Hollywood think they are doing?! Once I had my first son I became a bit obsessed with the birth community and anything VBAC related. Article after article kept popping up about placenta encapsulation. I quickly learned that while some people ingest it in raw form (still a little too granola for me), there were ways to ingest the organ that were a little, for lack of better words, less icky. At first I was only interested in the pills, but through more research I learned about the multitude of benefits the tincture offered, and even found that it lasts so long you could enjoy the benefits throughout more than post partum. I'll be honest the first few times I took the tincture it was a bit difficult but I knew I was giving my body what it needed to heal from 9 months of growing someone as well as bringing them Earthside. I grew that organ, it's part of me, it was made to grow and protect one of the people I love more than life itself, how powerful and beautiful that the organ lives on to provide my family with protection and love. I ended up in a CBAC [Cesarean Birth After Cesarean] for my second birth, I was separated from my baby for almost three hours, and I feel that I owe a lot to my placenta (outside of it's obvious role). My son is 18 months old and still nurses 3 times a day. I made so much milk in the beginning (one of the many benefits) I was able to donate over 100 ounces! I felt better (emotionally and physically) and NEVER had an issue with production. Honestly, even if it's a placebo, which I don't see how it could be, how cool to recycle something that gave you and your baby so much? I won't bore you with the statistics about how consuming your placenta can do wonders for your mind and body, I will just say that I wish I had done it with my first and will DEFINITELY be consuming it if I'm lucky enough to have another child."