Okay, so you’ve heard that moms are eating their placentas in postpartum but you have no clue where to start? Tune in to this episode with our resident Placenta Specialist, Tessa Lowe of Grace of Life Doula to learn about your options for consuming your placenta and the amazing unique services Tessa offers. If you can’t find a local provider to process your placenta, you are going to want to listen to this episode for a solution!

Listen on Apple Podcast | Listen on Spotify

Mentioned on the Show:

Join the FBC: https://www.fiercelizzie.com/joinfbc

Learn more about FBC providers: https://www.fiercelizzie.com/fbcdirectory

Find Tessa on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graceoflifedoula/

Check out her services here: https://linktr.ee/GraceofLifeDoula

No time to listen? Here’s the gist:

The ways you can consume your placenta:

• Placenta Capsules, definitely the easiest way to consume and the most popular. You can have capsules processed with a raw or steamed placenta with or without additional herbs.

• Placenta Tincture, lasts longer and is a quick action way to get the benefits of the placenta.

• Consume Raw, yep, eating it raw, usually blending up in a smoothie.

• Consume Cooked, think cooking it on the stove top like a steak.

My experience trying to DIY my placenta:

With my 3rd I didn’t want to pay to have it encapsulated by a specialist so I thought I would do it myself. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be to cut a raw placenta. I also didn’t have a dehydrator so my plan was to eat it raw.

Here’s what I did. I cut it up into small pieces, some bigger for smoothies, some smaller to swallow whole like a pill. I ended up not liking the raw consumption at all and wish I would have just hired someone to encapsulate it. You’ll have to listen to the episode for the full story but it ends with me choking on a piece of too large frozen placenta.

What are the benefits of consuming your placenta?

Most common benefits are increased energy, increased or better established milk supply, boost in iron levels, and prevents postpartum mood disorders. Studies show the placenta does contain hormones that prevent postpartum depression, whereas the other benefits are more anecdotally documented.

The difference in Tessa’s postpartum experience with her first two compared to her third, and most recent postpartum, was night and day, and she attributes a lot of the benefits of last postpartum experience to consuming her placenta. 

What about adverse reactions?

Yes, it does happen! It does increase your hormones and can cause different physical symptoms, for example an increase in anxiety, headaches or other symptoms. Bottom line is trust what your body is telling you, try lowering your placenta dosage or skip it and see if symptoms improve.

What does the process of placenta encapsulation look like for Tessa?

She picks up your placenta from you at your birthing place, keeps it refrigerated or frozen until processing. She starts with examining the placenta, then moves on to the placenta keepsakes. She takes photos, starts the print process with a blood print and a more curated print using all natural food grade dyes.

She then steams the placenta with or without herbs, unless it’s a raw dehydration, then puts the placenta into to the dehydrator. Once it is completely dehydrated, it is then blended into a dust and filled into capsules. A piece of the placenta is used to make a tincture as well.

What if I can’t find a placenta specialist near me?

You can send your placenta to Tessa! She has perfected the process of mailing your placenta inside of a sturdy, double insulated 67 ounce jumbo mug. She sends you a complete placenta kit with everything you need to package up and ship your placenta to be taken care of by Tessa. Check out her instagram or send her a DM to check her placenta availability for your due date.