Postpartum Wellness: Placenta Encapsulation

Postpartum time can be hard for a lot of mamas. With the very real threat of postpartum depression, women are often times very anxious about what life will be like once baby comes. One thing that has made my postpartum period so much easier has been ingesting my placenta. Yes, you read that correctly! Many women swear by this ancient Chinese medicine. There are many benefits to ingesting your placenta after the birth of your baby. Let's talk about it :-) ...

The placenta is this amazing organ that your body creates for you and your baby during pregnancy.  It acts as your body’s hormone factory throughout your pregnancy, regulating and producing a different variety of hormones including serotonin and oxytocin.  You see, during pregnancy the placenta takes over most of the hormone production in your body. This is great, except when your placenta is gone, those hormones take a dramatic dip and are practically non existent in your body. It takes a while for your brain to get back to regulating these hormones.  By ingesting your placenta, it is believed that you can replenish your body with the hormones that linger inside the placenta. The amazing thing is that the placenta’s hormonal make-up is unique to the mother.

Do I mean you should just cut right into it after the baby is born?? No, not necessarily! Though a lot of women (including myself) have benefitted from swallowing a small piece of the placenta immediately after birth to help the uterus contract, thats not what I'm here to tell you about. Placenta encapsulation is a means of ingesting your placenta without the "gross" factor. My placenta encapsulation services include processing the placenta in the widely accepted "raw method", which means it is washed off, dehydrated, blended up into a powder, and put into capsules so that you can take them just like a vitamin. I try to get your "placenta pills" back to you by your third day postpartum! I'll pick up your placenta from the hospital (just ask your nurses/ midwives to save your placenta for you. It's never a problem and you don't need to explain anything to them), and I'll come pick it up the day of the birth! Read what others are saying about my placenta encapsulation services.. 

"It was my first time having a baby and knowing my character, I expected to have baby blues after delivery. Then I bump into Elyse's service on placenta encapsulation service and I read through about it but I was skeptical at first. Since the hospital does normally throw the placenta away, I decided to give it a try and I was very glad with the result. I did not have a baby blues and it also helped a lot in stopping the bleeding.
Elyse provided an excellent service with a reasonable price. She even came to hospital for placenta collection. I totally recommend everybody for her service." -Rita

"I had never heard of placenta encapsulation before Elyse suggested it to me. I looked into it more and decided its a great idea. I took the capsules everyday for around 2 months after the birth. Its hard to say but I think they helped shorten my recovery time and kept my energy at a normal level." -Racine

If you're interested in this service, or would just like to learn more about it, please let  me know! Please check out the Placenta Encapsulation info page on the website to learn more. I'm excited to be able to continue to offer this service to you as your local doula even while I'm on maternity leave <3 I hope to be hearing form you soon!

XO, Elyse 

Essential Oils for Labor & Birth!

Hey all! So in preparation for my own homebirth, I'm making sure all of my favorite and most essential (haha get it) birth supplies are in order and set out for my birth team. These 5 oils are definitely my go to when attending a birth and I hope they are helpful tools in my own labor and birth coming up! When I was pregnant with my first son, I was clueless about essential oils and they were definitely not a part of my birth toolbox, but over the years I have researched oils and seen first hand just how helpful and amazing they can be when used correctly and appropriately in a labor and birth setting.

Here is how I'm hoping to use these oils during labor and birth! I plan on printing out a little sheet of paper with simple instruction for my birth team (yikes, should do that today!).

Peppermint: Helps relieve nausea, headaches, and back pain. Can be used to give a little kick of energy and helps your brain focus at the task at hand! It helps relieve anxiety and hypertension. Be sure to use with a carrier oil when applied to the skin! Peppermint can also be diffused or just sniffed from the bottle for aromatherapy benefits. Avoid use after the baby is born, as peppermint has been linked to reduction of breast milk production. 

Clary Sage: This would be a wonderful oil to have diffusing throughout the whole labor! DO NOT start the use of this oil until labor is already established! Do not use this oil in pregnancy or as a way to induce labor. Clary sage helps your uterus contract, so it would be a great oil to have on hand in case labor stalls or if you need a little extra help with getting your placenta out. I'm planning on having it diffused throughout my labor to help my uterus stay working strong as well as rubbed on my abdomen after the baby is born to help my placenta release.

Wild Orange: Anything with citrus is going to be invigorating, refreshing and energy giving. Wild orange can be used on its own or mixed with peppermint to give energy, or mixed with lavender to reduce anxiety.

Lemon: Lemon can also be sued in the same way you would use wild orange. The citrus scent is invigorating and refreshing, and maybe you're just more in the mood for a lemon scent over an orange scent! Or mix the two oils for a wonderful citrus scent to revive your mind and mood!

Lavender: This is probably the most popular oil to use in labor (and in normal everyday life!). Lavender can be used to relax and balance your mind and body. When smelled at the peaks of difficult contractions, lavender can help calm and relax you. Lavender can be mixed with other oils to increase the potency of other oils and can even ease your after birth pains.

Deep Blue: This is an oil that I'm adding to my own birth kit that I don't usually give to friends and clients mainly due to the cost of the oil. This is a pretty expensive yet VERY potent oil that can be used to relieve back labor! Hallelujah! It's a mix by doTERRA, it smells a lot like Vicks, and is a mix of different oils that go deep into the muscles to help them relax and release. My back labor with Oliver was a nightmare, so I'm excited to have this oil on hand for this labor just in case back labor decides to rear its very ugly head again.

Maybe you notices me saying that some of these oils should be used with a "carrier oil". If you don't know what that is, it just means that the essential oil should be used with a non essential oil such as olive oil or coconut oil to dilute the potency or "heat" of the essential oil. Essential oils cannot be mixed with water, only another oil, so it's good to have these "carrier oils" on hand to help you use the essential oils safely. As a general rule, all oils can and maybe should be used with a carrier oil anytime that the essential is applied to the skin. The carrier oil that I prefer to use is coconut oil because of how great it is for the skin as well as its lack of its own odor. You could use any coconut oil from your grocery store, but I specifically got this lovely bottle of fractionated coconut oil from doTERRA which is connected it its own squirty top. Fractionated just means that the oil will stay in its "melted" sort of state and will not go back to becoming a solid as coconut oil often does at room temperature. I love to use essential oils mixed with carrier oils for massages for the laboring woman. I hope that members of my own birth team will do the same for me :-)

Well, there ya go! Information on the oils that I love to use during labor and birth and am hoping to use at my own birth coming up! If you are planning on using oils yourself, be sure to become as informed as possible! Essential oils are not just simple fragrances, but actual potent medicines. When used in moderation, appropriately and safely, essential oils can be a huge benefit to you in the birthing room. But when used blindly and recklessly, essential oils could be dangerous, so PLEASE be sure to be smart and informed!

Do you have any other favorite oils that you love to use in pregnancy, labor, birth and even the postpartum time?? Let me know!

xoxo, elyse