How Did I Get Started in All This?

Why would anyone desire to encapsulate placentas all day? I'm glad you asked. Here's my story:

I can admit the first time I saw a placenta on the pages of my nursing text, I was so horrified by its appearance that I purposefully avoided that page. It didn't matter to me what writing might be on that page that I may need to know, I couldn't bring myself to look at it.

I didn't see my own placenta with my son's birth at all. I had no desire to see it. I don't even remember it being born.

Despite my initial disgust with the placenta, I loved birth, and the placenta is a part of birth.

Several years later, working as a labor and delivery nurse gave me plenty of exposure to the placenta. I saw and handled so many placentas that I became immune to them.

It was not until several years after that when I began to grow interested in the placenta. What is this funny looking organ? I began studying its purpose and what it was useful for. My respect for the placenta grew. I realized what an incredible organ it is. It grows specifically for the baby to nourish and create life. It also protects the baby from harmful substances. What's even more amazing is that, as women, we can create something like this (which is even more testament to how incredible our bodies are).

Eventually, I became aware of how the placenta has functions even in the postpartum period. Its job isn't only beneficial to the baby, its designed for us too. The placenta has many benefits for our bodies as well, which is why almost every mammal consumes their own placenta. It's the perfect necessity to our bodies made by our own body!

I didn't know about consuming the placenta when I gave birth to my daughter (my second birth). She was a homebirth, and my husband buried the placenta in our backyard. It was in the cold of winter. He waited a little too long to bury it, and thus describes it as one of his worst experiences. We planted nothing over it, and I felt as though this miraculous organ my body had created had been wasted. There it lies in the ground with nothing to give its nutrients to.

I decided there must be another way. I studied the history of the placenta. In most cultures and throughout history, it has been revered. The placenta is used in a variety of ways and is often considered sacred.

This is when I came across placentophagy. Does anyone really consume their own placenta? I didn't know if I would ever be able to actually chew and swallow (I'm vegetarian, after all), but encapsulation presented a viable alternative. When I learned the placenta can increase the milk supply, I was sold. I had struggled with low supply while breastfeeding my daughter. I wondered if this would have made a difference.

While I have not yet had a third birth experience, there is no doubt in my mind what I will do with my next placenta.

I now feel overjoyed and honored to have made this transition in my life and am able to offer this service to women. The benefits are many and with an open mind and a little education, it is my sincere hope and purpose in life to further this knowledge, so that all women can have the option of benefiting from this blessed creation their bodies have made.

BTW, this can also be found on my website: http://www.azplacentaencapsulation.com/Meet_The_Encapsulator.html.