placenta faqS

Many women who are pregnant daydream about meeting their baby. They wonder what they will feel, what the baby may look like, and a million other things. Most mothers do not really consider the postpartum side—hormonal and physical aspects that may cause them to struggle to feel joy or have the energy they need each day. We want to help by spreading awareness about how to naturally support yourself through the possibilities of postpartum depression, lack of energy, low milk supply, and more. 

 

• What is placenta encapsulation? 

It is a process in which a placenta, is processed by possible steaming and dehydration, powdered and put into empty capsules, and delivered back to its owner for consumption in through postpartum. 

 

• Why do some deal with postpartum depression, baby blues, or extreme lack of energy? 

There are countless reasons but the main two are hormonal fluctuation and regulation and nutritional deficiencies. Making a baby takes a lot out of our body, and the placenta has been reported by countless moms to restore some of this.

 

• What are the main “ingredients” that can provide reported benefit for postpartum? 

The only ingredient in your placenta capsules done by Lafayette Placenta Encapsulation, Tiffany Wyatt, APPAC is your placenta. Many encapsulators add spicy peppers such as jalapeños and cayenne peppers, lemons or lemongrass, and/or ginger. We do not add anything, except your placenta, because we've learned from years of experience that some moms and/or babies are sensitive to any other ingredients and it can cause breastfeeding issues as well as colic and upset stomach.  

 

• What are the reported benefits of placenta encapsulation?

– Milk supply & improved lactation

– Mood support (postpartum depression, baby blues, anxiety)

– Improved energy

– Improved and accelerated healing and recovery

– Accelerated weight loss postpartum

– Anemia support

– Postpartum bleeding lessened

– Enhanced uterine involution (uterus return to pre-pregnancy size)

– Reduced maternal postpartum pain

– Facilitated bonding with newborn

– Increased strength and vitality

– Thyroid support

– Replenishment and regulation of hormones

– Improved quality of sleep

– Increased libido

 

    The many components found in the placenta and how they can reportedly help are as follows: 

– ESTROGEN, PROGESTERONE, TESTOSTERONE: prepares & aides lactation; stabilizes postpartum mood; regulates post-birth uterine cramping

– PROLACTIN: increases milk supply; enhances the mothering instinct

– OXYTOCIN: increases mother/infant bonding; counteracts stress hormones; reduces postpartum bleeding; enhances the breastfeeding let-down reflex

– OPIOID-ENHANCING FACTOR: produces natural opioids, including endorphins; reduces pain; increases well-being

– THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE & HEMOGLOBIN: boosts energy

– CORTICOTROPIN RELEASING HORMONE: helps prevent depression

– CORTISONE: Reduces inflammation and swelling; promotes healing

– IRON: increases energy; decreases fatigue and depression. Your placenta is iron-rich and bioavailable, making it easily absorbed unlike most iron supplements

– AND MORE ... The placenta is a facilitator organ designed to transfer oxygen and nutrients to the baby, therefore it is nutrient rich. It functions similarly to the lungs.

(Please Note: Tiffany Wyatt/Lafayette Placenta Encapsulation is not licensed medical professionals, and is not able to diagnose, treat or prescribe for any health condition. Services and fees are for the preparation and encapsulation of your placenta, not for the sale of the pills. Tiffany Wyatt is not responsible for clinical outcomes. Some of the ascribed benefits of placenta consumption are supported by ongoing research; however these benefits have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It is your responsibility to determine whether using placenta preparations may be of benefit to you.)

 

• What qualifications do you have to prepare my placenta?

I have completed and annually maintained certifications with placenta encapsulation-specific OSHA BloodBorne Pathogen, Louisiana Safe Food Handlers, and finally with the international certifying board of the Association of Placenta Preparation Arts (APPA). APPA is the most thorough, inclusive and internationally recognized and respected placenta arts certifications available. APPA holds its graduates to the very highest standards and protocols. Their graduates are extensively board reviewed to ensure safe practice, and they also set those standards for the industry. It takes around a year on average to ascertain the initial training and certification and then an annual recertification process is maintained to keep us up-to-date on all new protocols and studies.

Visit www.placentaassociation.com for more information and to confirm the certification of Tiffany Wyatt, APPAC.

 

• Do you pick up my placenta at the hospital or my place of birth? How do I get my encapsulation package once you are finished?

Yes, we pick up from any birth location within Lafayette! Once you've delivered and are ready for your placenta to be picked up, text your specialist. If you birth outside of Lafayette, we make arrangements for either dropoff OR if your are far out of town from Lafayette, we have meeting locations to hand off. 
Your specialist will make arrangements with you and if you are local, she will meet your support person at the front door of the hospital. Your support person will hand the packed placenta transport kit directly to your specialist in her vehicle.

Once the encapsulation is complete, you have an option to pickup from Lafayette OR have it mailed back to you for a $10 shipping and handling fee.

 

• Will the hospital let me take my placenta?

Yes, absolutely! Our local hospitals in Lafayette and surrounding areas have never given a family a hard time about releasing their placentas to them, especially using Lafayette Placenta Encapsulation's specially-designed placenta transport kit. All you have to do is let your main nurse know that you are keeping your placenta and hand her your transport kit that you packed in your birth bag. We mail your transport kit to you about one month before your due date.

​

** Lourdes Women & Children's—Be warned that the lactation department there will try to dissuade you from encapsulation as they have read this (https://www.happygoatproductions.com/blog/2017/9/6/a-lactation-consultants-perspective-on-placenta-encapsulation) blog post from another lactation consultant. Here is an article (https://brilliantbirthacademy.com/blog/why-lactation-consultants-are-wrong-about-placenta-encapsulation/) in rebuttal and also another by an APPA graduate that refutes the claims of that blog editorial (http://www.minnesotaplacenta.com/blog/does-placenta-encapsulation-lower-milk-supply).

Just tell them thank you and you will consider their suggestion with respect. We have reached out to them to counsel on educating them about how we practice in accordance with taking those claims into great consideration but they have not reached back out to us in response.

 

• Do you offer flavored capsules?

We do not and here is why—the ingredients it takes to make them colorful and flavorful are not something we personally are willing to consume and therefore are not willing to use for our clients. Your and your baby’s health are paramount to us and we take every aspect of our placenta encapsulation into consideration for safety and ultimate health and wellness. 

​

We use capsules that are made in the USA, Kosher, Halal, non-GMO, gluten-free and without preservatives ONLY. The capsule ingredients are only high-quality beef gelatin and purified water, which is what are in collagen supplements and powders used for wellness, anti-aging and recovery. Also to be noted, are BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) free and TSE (Transmissible spongiform Encephalopathies) free. 

 

Flavored capsule sellers do not provide their ingredients on their websites or their packaging. 

 

• If you are strict vegan, please contact us directly for another option of capsules.

 

• Where do you prepare my placenta? Is it in your kitchen, laundry room or bathroom?

Our placenta encapsulation lab is designed and dedicated to the exclusive use of encapsulation. It is a separate room with a controlled environment that has filtered air and filtered water, stainless working surfaces and sink, placenta board-approved and dedicated equipment and supplies, a hood vent to remove sanitation fumes, a dehumidifier, dedicated electrical supply, and generator access for power outage emergencies. The door has a lock and remains locked anytime there is a placenta present in the lab. All placenta work done by Lafayette Placenta Encapsulation is done in this lab exclusively. It is never done in a personal home or communal space such as kitchen, laundry room or bathroom.

 

• How do you prepare my placenta?

Placenta encapsulation is the process of preparing the mother’s placenta after the birth of her baby by rinsing, steaming or skipping the steaming step for the Simple Method, slicing thin and then dehydrating at 160°F for at least 12 hours, then be ground and placed into capsules for the mother to ingest. All bacteria, including GBS, begin to die at 55° C (131° F) after 30 minutes. Proper preparation at these temperatures ensure that no harmful bacteria are present. 

​

Encapsulation is a two day process:

​

Day 1: Once the placenta is prepared and dehydrated. This is when a picture of your placenta is taken for your mini polaroid picture. Also this is when placenta prints and tinctures are prepared. Your cord keepsake is placed in the dehydrator at this time in the shape of either a spiral, heart or the word love based on how long it is.* Before the placenta can be prepared, it must be defrosted if frozen. This can take another 24hrs.

​

Day 2: Involves grinding the dehydrated placenta into powder and placing it into capsules. The capsules are placed into its bottle and the labels are affixed to the placenta capsule bottle, tincture bottle, and salve jars. Also the postpartum guide and capsules information book is placed into your package. The bottles are then secured with shrink bands to ensure nothing contaminates your order.

 

To be noted is that every aspect of our process has been considered, even what surfaces your placenta come into contact with. What types of surfaces your placenta DOES possibly come into contact with while in heated state: bleach-free parchment paper, glass and stainless steel. What types of surfaces your placenta DOES NOT come into contact with while in heated state: plastic or steamer plastic bag (which both leach hormone-disrupting chemicals into your placenta), aluminum, non-stick Teflon.

 

• Are there any risks to consuming placenta capsules?

The risks of placenta encapsulation are few as long as the person encapsulating uses strict safety and sanitizing protocols, as well as understanding the contraindications. 

​

The risks of encapsulation are: 

– unsanitary conditions or location, 

– improper sanitizing techniques, 

– a placenta sent to pathology, 

– inappropriate choices in equipment (see below for more)

– or too short dehydration time before final encapsulation. 

Another major risk to be concerned with is that your encapsulator is using proper and board-approved equipment. Inappropriate equipment can include: 

– reusable transportation containers that cannot be properly sanitized, 

– steaming in something that cannot be properly sanitized such as a pressure cooking device, 

– a dehydrator with the motor on the bottom, 

– encapsulator machine that cannot be properly sanitized based on the part design. 
*All of these conditions can cause cross contamination meaning some of someone else's placenta particles can end up in your capsules.

 

• Is it safe to encapsulate if I'm GBS positive?

It is safe! GBS is a bacteria that lives on everyone’s skin and especially thrives in mucous membranes. A positive result from a GBS test only means that there is an abundance of GBS bacteria in the vaginal canal. Colonization does not mean that a mother has an active GBS infection. All bacteria, including GBS, begin to die at 55° C (131° F) after 30 minutes. Proper preparation at these temperatures ensure that no harmful bacteria are present. It's only one reason why it's important to hire a properly-trained and certified placenta encapsulation specialist! We know that proper transport times and temperatures, as well as steaming and dehydration times and temperatures will drastically reduce microbial counts thanks to research by Dr. Sophia Johnson from Jena University (1), so even in the case of GBS colonization (not infection), we can confidently say that properly prepared placenta capsules will be safe for consumption.GBS infections do have a low incidence of recurrence in infants (0.4% to 0.9%). GBS is caused by the bacteria Streptococcus Agalactiae. 

 

STUDIES/SOURCE:

(1) Johnson, S. A scientific approach to placenta remedies: What hormones are found in placenta tissue? Preliminary Research Results. April 11, 2017. https://experiment.com/u/DKKnUQ(2) Streptococcus agalactia E, Pathogen Safety Data Sheet, Public Health Agency of Canada. April

 

• Is the placenta a filter and will I consume what it filters?

The placenta is often referred to as a filter by practitioners but that is a misleading term for the placenta. To explain why, let's start with how the placenta works. Let's use an A/C filter as an example — we use filters all of the time to remove unwanted particles and toxins then throwing them into the trash once they have reached capacity. The placenta does not function as a filter in this sense, but more as a gatekeeper between the mother and fetus.The placenta’s job is to keep the maternal and fetal blood separate, while allowing nutrients to pass to the fetus, gas exchange to occur, and allowing waste from the fetus to pass through to the mother.The placenta does prevent most toxins from passing through to the fetus, but they are NOT STORED, but passed along through the blood into the mother's filters—her liver and kidneys. At this point the waste materials are then eliminated by the mother's body.

 

STUDIES/SOURCE:

– Heavy Metal Concentration in Human Placenta from Southern Poland. Sawicka-Kapusta, et. al. 2010 Proceedings of 15th International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment. INIS-PL—2010-0005Human placentophagy: Effects of dehydration and steaming on hormones, metals and bacteria in placental tissue.

– Sophia K. Johnsona Tanja Grotena Jana Pastuscheka Jürgen Rödelb Ulrike Sammerc Udo R. Markerta. Placenta-Lab, Department of Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Jena Analytik & Consulting, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jena University Hospital–Jena, Germany

​

 

• How many capsules will I get?

The amount of capsules varies greatly and it all depends on the size of your placenta. The size of your placenta is directly correlated to the size of your baby. An average baby weighs about 7 lbs. and average placenta weighs about 1 lb. and yields about 100-140 capsules on average. Also the encapsulation method makes a difference in how many capsules are rendered—Raw Prep makes about 40% more capsules than Steam Method because the steaming reduces the overall size of the placenta. 

 

• Will my capsules come with dosage instructions?

Yes! The dosage suggestion is found on the label of your capsule bottle AND in your informational booklet and postpartum guide along with recipes, information of postpartum mood disorders and more information about your capsules. When your placenta specialist delivers your capsule package to you, she can also review and answer any questions you might have. It takes about 90 capsules to get through the recommended dosage suggestion regimen.

 

• If there was meconium can I still get my placenta encapsulated?

Yes! Meconium staining is typically on the fetal side of the placenta, membranes and umbilical cord. It's not a problem to clean or remove the meconium present in order to continue with encapsulation. We can actually pull back the layer of the amniotic sac that is adjacent to the baby, in-effect removing the meconium from the fetal side of the placenta.

 

• What are the contraindications for placenta encapsulation?

– Chemical exposure – If the placenta comes in contact with a chemical preservative.

– Pathology – If placenta is sent to pathology. *If pathology is warranted, ask for them to test a small piece and to keep the rest. Encapsulation will be held off until testing is complete with results.

– Infection present in the uterus, placenta, membranes such as chorioamnionitis.

– Improper storage – Placenta must begin proper cooling with ice or refrigeration within 2 hours of delivery and frozen after 3 days.

– Lyme Disease – Active lyme infection only

– Heavy smoking or drug use during pregnancy

– Choriocarcinoma, cancer of the placenta

 

• If I plan to do Cord Blood Banking or Lotus Birth, can I still get capsules?

Yes—with blood banking—you can. Typically the blood is collected from the chorionic veins and a tissue sample may be taken. They may also take the entire umbilical cord. That would only affect your ability to have a cord keepsake or placenta print.True lotus birth and placenta encapsulation are not compatible. 

BUT, here are options for lotus birth in which you can encapsulate: partial lotus where a portion to encapsulate is removed within 2 hours of its birth, or a modified lotus where the placenta is cooled to safe temperature within 2 hours of its birth.

 

• Is there any chance I will get someone else's placenta?

We have a strict tag in–tag out protocol and policy that is double and triple checked throughout the entire process of encapsulation. In addition only one placenta is processed at a time. This absolutely ensures that you will receive only your own placenta back.