A Few Updates

This season business has been very busy!  I wanted to let everyone know that I, Teresa, will be providing the placenta encapsulation, prints, and tincture services on my own, as my lovely partner Katelyn finds herself spread thin with three children and other commitments.  AND, I'm completing coursework to become certified through Placenta Benefits (placentabenefits.info/), this is the most well-known and respected organization in the field, and the leader in placentophagy (ingestion of the placenta) research.  I'm very impressed with the integrity of the coursework, mostly peer-reviewed journal articles, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Making Friends

Here is a letter from our most recent client, Ruby, printed here with her permission:

Good Evening to the world's greatest "Placenta Ladies!"

That's what my husband and I have been calling you, as you've been this very mystical sort of presence in our post baby life- you came in, worked your magic and left our home leaving behind such wonderful little treasures. 

I can't thank you enough for what you've done for us. The artwork is just amazing. I absolutely love seeing what has connected Violet and I for so many months. I can't really express how beautiful I think they are. I've started taking the pills. 2 with breakfast and 2 with dinner. I have nothing to compare them to, but I feel good and it's a great comfort to me. 

Please feel free to keep in touch. I will email you a picture of this little wonder soon. She's truly an amazing little person.

too sweet

Now, all of the placentas that we handle are revered, but Kate and I were both especially in awe of this one.  It was so big and beautiful, we were extra excited to make prints from it.

Respecting our Moon Blood

Our friend and fellow magical mother Janelle Codianni wrote this beautiful response in a conversation when someone referred to menstrual blood as "gross."

 I get it. I see you. what I am wanting you to see is that when a girl gets her moon blood (cause that's how we rock it in our house) and is told it is gross, or a pain, or a chore, those feelings are internalized and that is how they begin to see themselves. There isn't a lot of evidence in the culture to change their minds that they are not gross, or a pain, or a chore. Unless girls can grow into women who honor and respect themselves and their bodies we won't get out of this shithole. It makes a big difference to have a good man, or father, or uncle that does not use put downs for that process.

The reason you and I were able to be educated, witness great art, put on a show, is because of menstrual blood. Your love for your wife, your wife, my husband, my children, your cousins, your potential future children are here because of menstrual blood. You owe everything you see around you, every single one of your ancestors, the ancient cities you may visit, the literature that shaped you, the grandma that held you, the father that guides you, the car you drive, the road you drive it on, the technology that advances and destroys us--ALL of it you owe to menstrual blood. Without it not a single thing we humans do or have done would be possible. For that, I suggest that menstrual blood deserves your reverence if not your kindness. I'm not saying your obligated to get your red wings or anything, or that you need to paint yourself like a warrior with it, but dismissing it as "gross" without a thought to what you owe to that process is arrogant at best. The subjugation of women begins with disgust and dismissal of menstrual blood. (stay with me here) it is the fruit of our inherent womanness and the root of our power. Its mystery and power were demeaned, shamed and criminalized over the course of our human history precisely because it cannot be controlled.  I would beg you to attempt to change the way you view menstrual blood (and truly all natural processes of the body) for the sake of the women and especially the young girls in your life. Should you have a daughter, I hope that she could have a parent that sees the potential for life in her to be wondrous, powerful and indeed beautiful. 

What To Expect

Ideally, the placenta preparation takes place as soon as possible after delivery, within the first 72 hours, allowing you and baby to benefit from the most potency the placenta has to offer. The first two weeks are the most important and effective time to be taking the placenta, so, the sooner the better.
Directly after the birth, the placenta should be placed in an enclosed container (a plastic container or a bag) in the refrigerator or in a lunch size cooler with ice. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours.
Preferably the placenta is prepared in your home.　 We adhere to the strictest standards of safety as set forth by OSHA and the EPA, and conforming to local health department guidelines for food preparation and safety protocols.　 The preparation process is always done in a sterile environment, using sterile equipment, with love, respect and patience, giving you the greatest quality and care you can ask for.
We bring all the equipment needed for the process. The first visit we make to your home, taking about two hours, the placenta is prepared for drying, and it is then left there in the dehydrator for several hours. We return the following day to begin the encapsulation process, taking about one hour. We not only prepare the capsules for you but a tincture as well, providing you with a lifelong supply of your placenta remedy.　 Prints of the placenta are also made.

　
Is this *Medicine* approved by the FDA?
This is not a product, it is a service.　 Just as your body naturally makes breast milk for your baby it naturally makes a placenta and turning it into something that is palatable for you to ingest is what placenta encapsulation does. *The word Medicine is used here as ‘something that serves as a preventative, a remedy’. 　

WELCOME!

First post, ladies and gents!  It all started when my friend Jen, understanding that I am of attachment parenting orientation, asked if I knew of anyone locally who made placenta pills.  She had read all about them, weighed the pros and cons, and could not think of a reason why she wouldn't try them when her third baby was born. 

I asked an herbalist friend of mine, Janelle, who happened to be sitting with her good friend, who just happened to have this wealth of experience and knowledge that I was unaware of.  In her previous life, you know the one before she had babies of her own, she had studied nursing and midwifery, and had cared for many moms and babes, and the placentas joining them.  And, she had participated in making placental medicine for dozens of women.

That was good enough for us.  Kate agreed to make the pills, I begged, insisted, was allowed to come and watch.  We had the best time.  Kate also made beautiful prints of the placenta, which looks like a tree of life.   All the ladies previously mentioned here could see that this would be a wonderful service to offer other moms in the area.  Thus, the business brainchild was born.

As a mom who has lost a baby in the final days before birth, I wish, I can't put enough emphasis on that word, WISH I had known about this when I gave birth to my daughter Brynn.  It would have comforted me in a way that nothing else could have come close to.  I would have one very fleshy part of her to hold on to.  And a print of the beautiful, life-giving placenta that we shared.