Your Placenta, Your Choice
Women are becoming more aware of their bodies and how amazing they truly are! When a woman becomes pregnant, the way that the body begins to change almost immediately is astonishing. During the earliest weeks of pregnancy, the placenta is formed which is one of the most important things your body and your baby needs to carry out a full-term healthy pregnancy. Your body literally creates the placenta specifically for the baby. You don’t have one if there’s no baby involved. Just wanted to clear that up.
Placentophagy, which is the act of consuming the placenta (also known as after-birth) once the baby is born, has become increasingly popular among women in the postpartum period. More and more mothers choose to have their placenta made edible after giving birth. The placenta has all kinds of amazing benefits which I’ve briefly mentioned here.
Trust that the doctors and scientists in the medical field know about these benefits as well. Ever think about what is done with your placenta after you give birth to it? Here’s a clue, they don’t just throw them away as “medical waste”.
I’ve come to find out that releasing the placenta to the mother (parents) is only legal in three states out of the 50! These are Texas, Hawaii and Oregon. What’s illegal about transporting your own organ? Your guess is as good as mine. I can think of one plausible theory. The hospitals want them!
All kinds of tests including stem-cell research and God knows what else is done on the placenta without you even knowing it. This is why some of the hospitals give push-back to mothers and families wishing to take their precious placenta home with them. Some of the things you might be told when requesting your placenta are:
“The hospital policy does not allow patients to take the placenta away from the hospital.”
“The placenta is considered a bio-hazard and is unsafe to take home.”
“Placentas are considered medical waste and are thrown out immediately.”
Don’t fall for any of these excuses. Understand that this beautiful organ belongs to you. You created it. Your body, your choice! No one should be aloud to make decisions about what happens with any part of your body. They wouldn’t tell you that you can’t take your baby home, right? Well the same should go for the placenta. It’s yours and you deserve to benefit from it before anyone else does.
The way that we advocate for ourselves against systems that tend to silence us from exercising our rights is extremely important. I encourage women wanting to experience birth in their own way and that want to experience an empowering birth without any restrictions to do as much research as humanly possible and really become knowledgeable of their options. If you don’t know your options, you do not have any. Be prepared.
One important step in the process of electing to take your placenta home is to decide that this is something that you are going to do no matter what your physician, hospital or birth facility has to say about it. Next in line would be to inform you healthcare provider way ahead of time. Find out where they stand and be sure that you two are on the same page. When mentioning your plans to your healthcare provider, there are a few things you should do.
Tell them that you will be taking your placenta home with you. Don’t ask them. It’s not there choice.
Ask them if they have a specific handling procedure that they’d like for you to follow.
Complete the appropriate paperwork necessary for the hospital
(For Texas residents.) Read and print a copy of the actual Bill that was passed through the Texas Legislator. The hospital doesn’t want legal problems. Show them you know your stuff, and it should be a piece of cake.
Bottom line is to know your facts and stand firm in your decision. Whether you seem educated or not won't stop the hospitals from attempting to bully you into backing down. Be sure to inform your support team about your decision to keep your placenta and on how they can help advocate for you if necessary. Remember you are in charge of your birth experience and nobody can take that from you.
Link: The Placenta Bill of Texas
If you live in Houston and would like to have your placenta encapsulated, I’d be glad to serve you. To book your Placenta Encapsulation service with Chrys, click here.
