All mammals on the Earth consume the placenta after giving birth. This valuable organ has generously supplied your body with lots of hormones, has stored nutrients and exchanged oxygen for your baby during pregnancy. After your baby and the placenta is born, all those hormones and nutrients are expelled. It takes several weeks for your body to start producing many of those hormones again. Consuming your placenta is a great way to bring balance back into your body after your delivery. 

Research is still developing regarding consuming your placenta after birth.  Many women have found that taking their placenta in capsule, smoothie, or cooked has helped with milk production, “baby blues”, and postpartum healing.

You only have one placenta for each baby.  If you aren’t sure if you want to keep it or not, then you can freeze it until you make a final decision. 

There are many midwives, student midwives, doulas, and other birth professionals that offer these services.   If you don’t happen to have anyone nearby, then there are mail order services that will send you the appropriate packaging and instructions for how to send the placenta to them. 

It is an organ meat, so you want to practice safe food handling guidelines such as not leaving in out at room temperature for several hours.  

If this is your first baby or if you needed postpartum mood support in your previous pregnancies, then placenta consumption can be an excellent way to rebalance hormones and ease stress this postpartum period.