Why I Believe in Placenta Encapsulation

       

Me, 6 months pregnant.Photo credit: Angela Avalos

        When I was pregnant with Corrie-Rai, I learned SO MUCH in such a short amount of time. I just sucked it all in, the prenatal yoga, the changes in my nutrition, the idea of a birth doula helping me, the desire to have a natural and drug-free labor and birth. I loved it all! Hence, the reason I am now a birth doula! One of these "things" I really gravitated to as a pregnant mama was the idea of having my placenta encapsulated. I had never heard of humans digesting their own placentas but I had witnessed my uncle's
dog eat her pups placenta immediately after giving birth and I never forgot that, so the idea wasn't too strange to me. Once I learned that humans are the only mammals who do not typically consume the placenta after birth, I kept thinking "WHY WOULDN'T I EAT MY PLACENTA?"
       I immediately got in touch with Sara Pereira of Mommy Feel Good and set it up so that she would come to my house and encapsulate my placenta after I came home from the hospital. From what I have researched and learned through out the experience, and by talking to moms who have had their placenta encapsulated or other doulas who offer encapsulation in their services, the immediate shift of hormones after a woman gives birth can be felt intensely. I personally never really felt this shift simply because there was so much going on, my hormones were all over the place...but I have heard it time and time again. When a woman consumes her placenta, she is putting back into her body, all of the nutrients and hormones, and potent vitamins that nurtured her baby and her body throughout her pregnancy.

1 hour postpartum. Skin-to-skin bonding time with my healthy baby girl and my doula at my side. 

 Amazing right? Not only can these little pills be used for postpartum recovery, but they can be used for times of trauma...I did experience this when I found out I had a 6cm cyst that had formed in one of my ovaries when I was 4 moths postpartum. I had to have surgery that was VERY invasive and very similar to that of a cesarean birth. I returned from the hospital, to my 4 month old nursling, determined not to take the pain killers my doctor prescribed me and insisted would not affect my baby (are you kidding me?) through my milk. Instead, I tossed my prescription and took 1 of my placenta pills a day. I never had a need for any other pain medication but my body's own.

      Flash forward to the present day- Corrie-Rai is now 16 months old. I got my period back 8 months ago when she was 8 months old and let me tell you, no one ever talks about how your period changes after you give birth. Sometimes for good, but mostly for bad...at least in this house! I used to love my visits from Aunt Flo! Her stay was always 4 days long, she was always on time, and she was always light. She never bothered me, and she always left as quickly as she came.  Then after 9 months of pregnancy (10 really) and 8 more months of exclusive breastfeeding, and BOOM! She was back, and making up for lost time. Just this past week she came by for a visit and took my emotions and hormones on a roller coaster ride from hell. I I remembered my handy dandy placenta pills that are tucked away safely in my freezer and popped one. About 15 minutes later I was a different person, a different mother, a different woman. There is something about the power of the placenta that regulates so much of our body during pregnancy and birth, it is almost traumatic for a woman's body to lose the placenta so abruptly. We don't even get to say thank you and goodbye!
    So, if you are curious about placenta encapsulation, DO IT! You won't regret it, especially if you get a tincture like the one Sara includes in her service...it lasts forever!!! Even 20 or so years from now, when I am having hot flashes and night sweats from menopause, (God, I hope not) I can use my powerful and mighty placenta juice to fight off the demons of old age, and enrich my body with the magic of birth hormones.

You can contact Sara @ www.mommyfeelgood.com if you are interested in her services. She's great! =]

What is "OM"?

I get asked a lot what does the "Om" in my business name "Om Mama Birth: mean?

Here is an explanation of Om that I like the most:

"Aum (or OM) is a mantra, or vibration, that is traditionally chanted at the beginning and end of yoga sessions. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined together, make the sound Aum or Om. It is believed to be the basic sound of the world and to contain all other sounds.  It is said to be the sound of the universe. Somehow the ancient yogis knew what scientists today are telling us–that the entire universe is moving. Nothing is ever solid or still. Everything that exists pulsates, creating a rhythmic vibration that the ancient yogis acknowledged with the sound of Aum. We may not always be aware of this sound in our daily lives, but we can hear it in the rustling of the autumn leaves, the waves on the shore, the inside of a seashell. Chanting Aum allows us to recognize our experience as a reflection of how the whole universe moves–the setting sun, the rising moon, the ebb and flow of the tides, the beating of our hearts. As we chant Aum, it takes us for a ride on this universal movement, through our breath, our awareness, and our physical energy, and we begin to sense a bigger connection that is both uplifting and soothing.

The Aum symbol design can be seen as a symbolic representation of the various psychological compartments of the psyche; an inner dimensional map of the various compartments of human consciousness and the relationship each has to the divine within.

The long lower curve represents the dreaming state.

The upper curve stands for the waking state.

The curve which emanates from the center represents deep sleep, beyond dreams.

The crescent stands for the veil of material illusion.

The dot is the transcendental self."

(Taken from www.sacredfunk.com)

Pretty deep stuff right?

Well, the Om sound and symbol have sentimental meaning for me too. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I used to have bouts of anxiety or stress and chanting Om was sometimes the only thing that could help me calm down, and refocus. I used to chant/sing Om a a lot during my pregnancy, and then when my daughter got a little bigger and fussier and I would chant it to her, partially to help me stay sane, but mostly because she would instantly stop fussing and focus in on the sound. The sound of Om is SO powerful and strong, it could catch anyone's attention. A part of me thinks she also remembers the sound from utero because I used to chant it so often at my prenatal yoga classes or just at home when I felt like going to my happy place. 

Om Mama Birth means, birth of the universal mother.This means that no matter what, where or when, birth is always the same...a baby coming from his/her mother's womb. 

Philosophy

"Your spirit as a woman has all the knowledge and power you need to give birth and to nurture your baby. It is in your genes. it has been there since you yourself were conceived. You can trust its wisdom."

-Gurmukh Khalsa

      I use this quote on mostly anything having to do with my doula practice and I keep using it because I believe it best sums up my philosophy behind my services. I truly believe that we are all born with the knowledge, power, strength and intuition to birth our babies safely, and take care of them once they are born. However I also believe that sometimes, okay most of the time, we allow the medical world and the entertainment industry to scare us into thinking that we are not cable of any such things. This is where my job comes into play. My goal for every family I serve is to encourage and remind the woman of her inner strength, of her goals, of her baby, and of her power. My wish for those families is that they will be satisfied with the experience of their child's birth whether is goes according to their wish list or not. My hope for each mother is that she will indeed trust her spirit and her body to do what it needs to, to get her baby out of the womb and into the world safely and with as little pain as possible. I encourage any expectant mothers who read this to reflect on this quote a few more times, and truly believe it. 

"A Do-What?!?!"

       Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to be a mother. My older sister and I used to play "doctor" and we would take turns putting a doll under our shirt and the other would pretend to be the doctor who helped deliver the baby. I always wanted to be a young mother, but I never dreamed it would become a reality. I was in my 4th year of college studying subjects I wasn't passionate about when I unexpectedly got pregnant with my daughter. Things didn't work out between her father and I and I made the decision to be a single mother and raise my daughter on my own with the help and support of my family. 

      My pregnancy was life-changing in every way possible. I learned a lot about myself and the power of my mind and body and I watched how my body held and nurtured the little person within me without any special instruction. To this day I am still amazed by what women's bodies are capable of. I educated myself and my mom who was my birth partner through it all and took my childbirth education classes at BINI Birth, and read tons of books that helped me stay positive and confident about what was about to happen. I caught myself constantly talking about birth and babies every chance I got with whomever would engage in the conversation with me. The idea of natural birth seemed right for me and my baby, but I couldn't afford a doula at the time (or so I thought-THERE IS A DOULA FOR EVERY WOMAN) but my mother who took all of my class with me acted as my doula during my labor and birth of my daughter. Having someone there, specifically a woman who I knew and trusted, to hold my hand and remind me of all the goals I had for my birth was so empowering and magical. I could not have asked for a better birth. 

     After the birth of my daughter I was still having baby and birth word vomit and I realized that I could not sit back and let the knowledge I had found be lost. I had to share it, especially with women who may or may not have a partner, access to resources or the support they need and crave for their personal birth plans. The idea of becoming a doula-a non-medical birth professional who provides physical comfort and emotional support for women in labor-made me excited and sparked a fire within me, something no subject in college ever did. I immediately contacted Ana Paula Markel at BINI Birth and asked her how I could get started.

          In May 2012 I completed my DONA Birth Doula training and I am now taking births on a sliding scales depending on the needs and budget of the expectant family. I am currently trying to build my experience one birth at a time and extending my services to expecting women, families, and couples, who seek continuous labor support in order to create a less stressful, more satisfying birth experience. 

You can contact me at:

danellia@OMmamabirth.com

(323) 712-2714

OMmamabirth.com