Commonly Asked Questions

How is the Placenta Encapsulated?

The placenta is gently steamed, using a centuries-old, tried and tested method known as Traditional Method warming herbs may be used in the steaming water that also acts as an antibacterial. The placenta is then dehydrated, ground, and placed into empty vegetable capsules.

This is a simple, safe, and natural way to restore what has been lost during pregnancy and birth. Unless requested, we generally only use vegetable capsules, as these are suitable for all mothers, who may be vegan or vegetarians. The placenta capsules are also soy and gluten-free.

Research has shown the encapsulating using TM significantly increases the amount of iron in the placenta capsules!! As a new mother, what if you could avoid the early postnatal hormonal fluctuations, by taking a capsule made from your baby’s placenta!

Can you give me more information on the Vegetable Capsules please?

Sure. The Vegetable capsules the placenta is encapsulated in are made from Hypromellose Cellulose (HPMC), derived from trees as well as being low moisture content, physically stable over a wide temperature and humidity ranges, preservative-free, allergen-free, soy-free, starch-free, gluten-free and kosher and Halal Certified.

Why should I have a professional encapsulate my placenta, surely, I can do it myself?

In a nutshell, you only have one opportunity to undertake placenta encapsulation. If the placenta is not processed thoroughly, this could lead to the new mother, becoming unwell (gut infection), losing valuable nutrients, namely iron and B12, by over-cooking the placenta.

Having the correct tools and equipment readily available to undertake the process. Freeing the new mother up, spent during the encapsulation process, thus enabling you time to bond with your new baby.

Anyone can read an online tutorial about how to dry out placenta strips in an oven as this service grows, how we meet the demand matters!

I choose to train with APPA, as I care about maintaining standards that promote the best protocols and sanitation practices for placenta encapsulation so that I can serve my clients in the safest way possible.

I have met APPA’s stringent guidelines for the safest placenta preparation and have agreed to APPA’s standards & ethics for practice. 

Transporting your placenta is considered a food source; it is conveyed to our dedicated placenta workspace at the correct temperature (5°C or colder) as specified by Food Standards Australia.  

In our dedicated placenta workspace, all surfaces and equipment are sanitised, rigorous personal hygiene and Blood Borne Pathogens protocols are adhered to.

The equipment we use fits one of two categories:

1. single-use and disposed of after use; and

2. repeat use (e.g. electric dehydrator and stainless-steel steamer) is scrubbed clean using hot soapy water and sanitised with hospital grade bleach.

Each placenta is treated with care and respect.

Only one placenta is ever handled at a time. Should another placenta come into our possession, this placenta is placed into our dedicated placenta fridge, until the previous placenta is fully completed.

WHATS INCLUDED IN EACH PACKAGE:

GOLD - $300
Includes:

·      Personal pick up of your placenta from your birthplace (within Adelaide metro area)

·      Processing of your placenta using the Traditional Method

·      Placenta needs to be collected within 12 hours of the birth

·      Dried cord keepsake 

·      Fully prepared tincture and dosage bottles

·      Choice of Organic Herbal Balm or Placenta Infused Organic Herbal Balm

·      Dosage instructions

·      Personal return of your placenta package, to either your home or birthplace within 48 hours of collection.

(within Adelaide metro area)

SILVER - $250

Includes:

·      Personal pick up of your placenta from your birthplace (within Adelaide metro area)

·      Processing of your placenta using the Traditional Method

·      Placenta needs to be collected within 12 hours of the birth

·      Dried cord keepsake and dosage guidelines

·      Return of your capsules to your home via Australia Post Express Post

 BRONZE - $220

Includes:

·      You are required to deliver & collect your placenta to our premises at Golden Grove

·      Placenta must be kept at 4oC after the birth, by either keeping placenta surrounded by ice or placed in a refrigerator. 

. Placenta must be transported in a cooler to our premises, within 24 hours of the birth

·      Processing of your placenta using the Traditional Method

·      Dried cord keepsake and dosage guidelines

$50 DEPOSIT

Is required when you book to confirm.  A confirmation, receipt and post birth care instructions will be provided via post.

MAKING CONTACT

Please ensure you make contact within 24 hours of the birth of your baby. Some hospitals will advise you cannot take your placenta for 7 days, which is just a deterrent. This is why the request you sign a consent form to release the placenta to me. If you do not advise me of the birth within 72 hours of the birth, it is unsafe for me to process and certainly unsafe for you to consume, and your deposit will not be refunded

What is a placenta?

The word placenta comes from the Greek word for cake (plakóenta/plakoúnta), flat slab like, and develops from the same sperm and egg cells that form the foetus. The placenta functions as a feto-maternal organ with two components, the fetal part (Chorion frondosum), and the maternal part (Decidua basalis).

The inner layer of the blastocyst becomes the foetus and the outer layer forms the outer layer of the placenta. The outer layer of the placenta divides again into two further layers. The placenta attaches itself to the uterine wall to allow the growing baby nutrients, waste elimination and gas exchange via the mothers blood supply. The placenta continues to grow throughout the pregnancy.

High levels of the hormone prostaglandin, which stimulates involution of the uterus (shrinking of the uterus to its former size), are contained in the placenta.

The placenta also contains small amounts of oxytocin, which serve to ease birth stress, but also help to contract and eject milk.

What is Placentophagy?

Most land mammals, with the exception of the camel, undertake Placentophagy, (also known as placentophagia) or the act of consuming their placenta following parturition (Parturition involves the birth of the neonate, as well as the placenta and fetal membranes childbirth.  

In some cultures, women eat their placenta raw, or add it to a stew, casserole, or lasagne. When this occurs the placenta is generally consumed from birth to three days post birth, as the mother desires. When Encapsulating the placenta this ensures that the effects are made to last several weeks, during which time the hormones are being replaced and hormone levels are being maintained by the capsules. On day 3, 4 or 5 the maternal hormones are going to drop! And it takes around 3 weeks for the hypothalamus to start producing the hormones again.