How to make: Placenta encapsulation

Sliced placenta

Steamed placenta

Dried placenta

Finely ground placenta

After a particularly stressful week I have never been so thankful for the hormonal support my placenta has been giving me. There was a small lapse in timing in-between finishing my course of smoothies and starting taking my placenta pills and, gosh, did I feel it. I was a hormonal mess for about a day and a half, but lo and behold as soon as I started taking my placenta pills I have been feeling calmer and centred again.

We made two different types of placenta pill, raw and steamed. The raw ones have more of a kick to them but the steamed ones keep better.

Instructions

(By M)

Raw:

• Wash the placenta, removing any bloodclots along with the membrane (a bit like removing the skin from a chicken breast)
• Finely slice the placenta – the finer the slices the faster it will dehydrate.
• Place on a foil-lined baking tray and pop in the oven on its lowest heat until fully dried (50C / 110F. You may have to prop the oven door open if it gets too hot – you're drying it, not cooking it). That means no pink bits, the pieces of placenta should snap when folded, not tear! This can take up to 8 hours, turn halfway through.
• Remove from the foil (some might take some persuading) and put in your pestle and mortar. You could probably use a coffee grinder, but traditional Chinese medicine says this creates too much energy (?) apparently. Besides, grinding it by hand is much more satisfying.

Steamed:

• See stage 1 of 'Raw' above.
• Place the placenta in a steamer above a pan of boiling water. Only fill with water to a couple of inches depth as you don't want it boiling over. Steam the placenta with some lemon, ginger and chilli.
• As for 'Raw' above, place in the oven on the lowest possible heat.
• Grind it!

Now to encapsulate your placenta powder… You can buy a specialist encapsulator but I used a folded piece of card to fill the capsules (think refilling a pot of glitter). It's a bit fiddly, but oddly therapeutic.

Yield-wise we got roughly 30 steamed and 40 raw. We did previously remove five thumbsize pieces for smoothies and a walnut sized piece for a tincture so you may well get more, dependant on placenta size of course. Keep refrigerated in a lidded jar and take 1-2 daily.

How to make: Placenta smoothies

In the animal kingdom it is common for mammals to consume their placentas after birth. Placentas are incredibly powerful and are instrumental in healing a post birth body. Some of the reported benefits include:

• Significantly reduced blood loss
• Helping to beat the 'baby blues' when the milk comes in
• Helps the body heal internal wounds
• Increases milk production, with milk 'coming in' a day or two earlier
• The hormones help boost mood and energy

To get the most benefit the placenta is consumed raw (not as yucky as it sounds I promise!) and as soon as after birth as is possible.

We decided to have a course of placenta smoothies (as well as other goodies) to help my body heal quicker after the birth. After cleaning, removing blood clots and membrane we cut and set aside 5 thumb size pieces of placenta and kept them in a sealed jar in the fridge.

Chopped and ready placenta looking a bit like raspberry coulis 

All smoothies (and the placenta) were prepared by my very lovely and helpful husband M (Thank you!!). These are the recipes for the smoothies but are not precise, add more of less of things to taste.

Day 1

Berry Smoothie

1 teaspoon raw honey
3 tablespoons of organic live yogurt
200 ml coconut water
A pinch of true cinnamon (not cassia)
1 teaspoon cold pressed coconut oil
1 Banana
A handful of frozen blueberries
1 thumb size piece of placenta

Day 2

Cacao, Banana and Peanut Butter

1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
3 tablespoons of organic live yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar free peanut butter
1 banana
1 teaspoon cold pressed coconut oil
200 ml coconut water
A pinch of true cinnamon
1 teaspoon raw honey
1 thumb size piece of placenta

Day 3

Green smoothie

A couple of handfuls of kale
A couple of sprigs of mint
1 teaspoon raw honey
1 tablespoon organic live yogurt
200 ml coconut water
1 teaspoon cold pressed coconut oil
1 banana
A handful of frozen blueberries
1 thumb size piece of placenta

Day 4 

Raspberry Ripple Smoothie

A larger handful of frozen raspberries
1/2 teaspoon good quality vanilla essence
4 tablespoons organic live yogurt
1 banana
200ml coconut water
1 teaspoon cold pressed coconut oil
1 thumb size piece of placenta

Day 5

Cacao, Banana and Peanut butter

(Again because it was so delicious!)

See Day 2

Results

Firstly, you cannot taste the placenta! They simply taste like very yummy smoothies yet make an incredible difference to the way I have felt after Arlo's birth. I have felt massively less emotional and stressed; I have been feeling much more able to take things in my stride and as of yet have not weeped since the birth! I have a lot more energy (although still feeling rather sleep deprived) and able to concentrate. The post-partum bleeding has been noticeably less compared to Bean's birth. My milk came in properly on day two without any real emotional excess, just a few instances of me being a wee bit tetchy. As is common with number 2, the after pains have been pretty intense but my body has changed insanely in just a few days, my bump's almost completely gone and my body is beginning to feel strong again.

The number of positive benefits have far outlived my expectations and would do it again in a heartbeat, should we ever decide to do it again.

Did you do anything with your placenta? Have you tried placenta smoothies? What was your experience?

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Coughs, colds and conjunctivitis

The past week or so has been one of coughs, snuffles and tickly throats. One by one we have all come down with the same ailments adding to the already full-on atmosphere of the house at the moment. Being pregnant most of the usual syrups and pastilles you would usually buy are no longer deemed safe, although in all honesty I have taken nothing more than paracetamol (twice) since Bean was born. Little by little my interaction with mainstream medicine has been weakening. The absolute desire to do right by my child has had a wonderful knock on effect on both mine and M's health. We know more about nutrition and using it to heal our bodies; we are learning new ways of using nature and the things around us to strengthen our immune system. Not that we always agree of course. I am definitely the more open-minded one when it comes to all things deemed hippy, new age, alternative, etc, etc. But very luckily, science is bit by bit beginning to back up many things used in traditional and folk medicines and giving me another leg to stand on.

So, I thought I would share with you some of the home brewed healing remedies we have been using to get through this most snotty of times.

Conjunctivitis. I am lucky enough to still be breastfeeding Bean and with this comes access to one of the most glorious liquids known to man: Breast milk! One of the many wondrous things that breast milk does is treat conjunctivitis, one squirt before bed and it was gone by the morning. Amazing stuff. Obviously not everyone has easy access to breast milk, but I have been assured that raw cow's and raw goat's milk both do the job fantastically as well.

For colds and coughs I have been passed a couple of marvellous recipes by friends and family. The first is what is commonly known as garlic lemonade. Many people and blogs talk of it's effectiveness and I wholeheartedly agree, it really does work and doesn't taste as horrific as it sounds (especially if you are a garlic fiend like me). The recipe I use is a wee bit more garlicky than most, but, as I said, I am a garlic fiend.

1 pint of filtered water
5-10 cloves of garlic peeled and lightly squashed
The juice of half a lemon (or more to taste)
Raw honey to taste

Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the garlic gloves and leave covered to steep. After 20-30 minutes strain to remove the garlic gloves and add the lemon juice and honey to taste. And voila! Quick, simple and really does work wonders.

There are a couple of recipes for easing coughs, this one from the Coconut Mama works wonders but as we have a great big bag of flaxseeds to use up I have been using one with a flaxseed base.

250ml of filtered water
3 tablespoons of flaxseeds
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
3 tablespoons of raw honey

Boil the flaxseeds in the water until it become thick and viscous. Strain to remove seeds. Wait to cool, then add the lemon juice and honey. Mix it all up and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Hopefully some of these might be of some help for you as well. Do you have any home remedies you rely on?

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