well, i somehow manage to make it through life without knowing certain basic things. like when the placenta comes out. first comes the baby, then comes a cord, and then when does the placenta come out? i have been watching tons of birth videos on youtube and there's something i'm just not getting. none of the videos are showing the cord getting cut or what it's attached to. but i have read home birthing accounts where there is something to catch the placenta, presumably sometime not very long after the baby comes. you know how nervous we can get about the things we don't know. help a sister out with some life 101 info?
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New York City
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Re: confused about placentas
Thu, February 14, 2008 - 9:57 PMUsually the placenta comes out a few minutes after the baby. It could be a couple of hours though, everyone is different. Some people choose to clamp and cut the cord immediately after the baby is born, before the placenta has come out. Some people choose to wait after the placenta is birthed and until it stops pulsing to cut the cord, while others leave the child and the placenta attached to one another until the cord dries up and naturally falls away. You don't need something to "catch" the placenta per say, it doesn't _usually_ shoot out like a baseball;) But you will need some place to put it until you decide what to do with it (It's kind of like dinner plate sized, blood filled sponge) so it will be messy to handle. Does that answer your questions? If you need anymore help just let us know. It's ok to be nervous, but I have faith that you'll do great!
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Re: confused about placentas
Fri, February 15, 2008 - 6:49 AMthey usually catch the placenta in a bowl so it can be inspected. the midwives need to make sure that the entire thing came out and that there is nothing left inside to cause any bleeding issues...at least that's how it was explained to me.
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Re: confused about placentas
Sat, February 16, 2008 - 8:15 PMHiya.. check out the photos. There is a pic of us (me, babe & placenta) hanging out in the tub. Our placenta was born about 30 min (average) after babe was born. We kept it attached for 2.5 hours. We were planning a lotus birth but after all that work I wanted to hold my baby without the placenta. The cord stopped pulsating before the placenta was delivered. It was placed in a bowl and we inspected it and "played" with it as it floated around the tub. They are beautiful and amazing! Just think... they keep your baby growing for all that time. Amazing!!!
I was afraid to deliver the placenta after all the pushing for Phoenix. It actually felt good coming out. Like our doc said "Your baby feels like a brick and the placenta feels like a sponge". :-) -
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Re: confused about placentas
Sat, February 16, 2008 - 9:15 PMthey used to call the placenta the 'birth cake' and considering that some people consume it, how aptly named! hee hee! they can be quite heavy, even a few pounds, and can feel like you're lifting a liver.
here is a description... baby's cord connects from her belly button to, usually, the center of the round placenta. the cord consists of three vessels covered in a white jelly that prevents the cord from getting smooshed and blocking flow. where the cord meets the placenta, the blood vessels branch out like branches on a tree. like a tree provides oxygen to the planet, so does the placenta to the baby.
the placenta is attached on one side to the baby via the cord and the other side is attached to the uterus. it actually grew into the wall of the uterus through veins and arteries. the placenta has grown with the baby since the begining. blood flows through these veins and arteries and, through a process called diffusion, delivers oxygen and nutrients through the placenta and through the umbical cord into the baby. in this way, the placenta functions as baby's lungs and kidneys! it's the only organ you get rid of and belongs to the baby. when the placenta is birthed, it actually rips itself away from the wall of the uterus. the uterus has to contract and clamp down and stop the bleeding from the veins and arteries that went to the placenta.
baby floats inside the amniotic sac in amniotic fluid. the sac is clear, thin and strong. baby inhales and drinks amniotic fluid!
here is a fun visual...if the baby was born underwater in the ocean and if no one was there to catch it right away, it wouldn't float too far! because the cord would act like a thether line until the placenta came out. -
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Re: confused about placentas
Sat, February 16, 2008 - 9:17 PMthe reason you probably never saw much footage of the placenta coming out in the videos is because the baby just came out and everyone is of course VERY interested in the baby! (poor ole' placenta, she worked so hard and baby steals the show). -
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Re: confused about placentas
Mon, February 18, 2008 - 8:09 PMPlacentas are the only meat you can eat that doesnt involve death.
(I didnt eat mine. Its still in my freezer almost 2 years later...oops) -
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Re: confused about placentas
Mon, February 18, 2008 - 10:31 PMspeaking of placentophagy (eating it), i had mine dried & ground into capsules that i still take if i'm feeling iron deficient or moody. they will keep indefinitely when frozen. www.placentabenefits.info -
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Re: confused about placentas
Tue, February 19, 2008 - 8:16 AMWow!!! That is awesome!! I'm going to read about it. Mine is frozen. Do you think it can be defrosted and dried?
:-) -
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Re: confused about placentas
Tue, February 19, 2008 - 10:14 AMyou sure can. Mine was frozen for a couple months before we decided to do the capsule thing.
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Re: confused about placentas
Tue, February 19, 2008 - 11:09 AMoh geez i was freaked out enough when i thought i just had to somehow get it out of my body. and y'all got all kinds of fancy ways of getting it back in in small pieces.
: ) -
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Re: confused about placentas
Tue, February 19, 2008 - 11:11 AM<<recovered, more or less>>
so do you feel a difference in your body when you eat the capsules?
and how did you dry it? -
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Re: confused about placentas
Tue, February 19, 2008 - 4:33 PMI used Scared Entrance midwifery for my home birth. I LOVED Connie and Aleks! O also had my Placenta dried and put into capsules. I paid $250 for this and it made about 200 or so clear capsules. Aleks provided the service for me. make sure you don't have her mail it to you, the wrong address got put on the envelope and almost got lost in the mail! Pick up your precious placenta instead! You don't want that in the mail system anyways, it's irreplaceable! they are located in West L.A.
www.sacredentrance.com -
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Re: confused about placentas
Tue, February 19, 2008 - 6:30 PMjodi a www.placentabenefits.info did mine. she is located in las vegas & she uses DHL as her shipping company. she provides the box, insulating foam, biohazard bags, paper towels, labels... she even calls the company for you! all you have to do is freeze it, box it, label it & hand it over to the delivery guy when he gets there. if you have a midwife, however, she may know of a service more local to you. -
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Re: confused about placentas
Wed, February 20, 2008 - 10:06 AMWe followed our midwife recommendation. I put mine in the oven at low temperature for about 12-14 hours, until it became a powder. Then we brought it to our chinese herbalist who put it into capsules for us so it didn't cost anything. -
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Unsu...
Re: confused about placentas
Sun, March 16, 2008 - 6:32 PMI made my Placenta into capsules after it was in the freezer for 9 months. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, just couldn't toss it. My Acupuncturist helped me, and said it would help nourish me. I believe it did. My second placenta I did myself right away and had very little baby blues, if any. I've since helped prepare a few other women's placenta. We always end with a small ceremony of gratitude. I charge $150. I LOVE the Placenta!!!!
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Re: confused about placentas
Sun, March 16, 2008 - 11:20 PMYES! That's what I've been saying! If people want to eat meat, there's PLENTY of PLACENTA! Humans should switch over to placenta meat consumption instead of killing animals for meat!!!!
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Re: confused about placentas
Sun, March 16, 2008 - 11:22 PM -
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Re: confused about placentas
Mon, March 17, 2008 - 1:57 PMi think eating placentas is a great idea. however, i think most people are turned off because it seems like... cannibalism. yup, i said it.
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Re: confused about placentas
Tue, March 18, 2008 - 10:38 PMOMG! I'm all about eating placentas and good stuff like that!
What if you sent your placenta away to get dried and made into capsules, but accidently recieved someone else's back?! -
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Re: confused about placentas
Wed, March 19, 2008 - 11:41 AMi trust jodi & others who make this their duty. they honor the placenta & treat it with reverence & respect. thus, i'm sure they only do one at a time. especially since placentophagy is still a new idea in this country. i can't imagine she's getting swamped with placentas. she also sends you a free aromatherapy candle as a gift. they're wonderful! she will even shape the cord into a heart shape, dry it & put it in a little gift bag as a keepsake. i think that was my favorite part. i still marvel at it. -
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Re: confused about placentas
Wed, March 19, 2008 - 1:51 PMSweet :0)
We did a placenta print, which I LOVE how it turned out, and then stuck it in the freezer. We'd like to plant a tree with the placenta along with our dreads we cut off a while ago! Maybe a Ginkgo tree, that seems nice! -
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Unsu...
Re: confused about placentas
Thu, March 20, 2008 - 7:12 PMI keep forgetting that placenta consumption isn't the norm yet and talking about it to the "weak" guts. It's pretty funny the expressions on people's faces.
I was at a friends birth, and she is very main stream, and so was her doctor, but I couldn't help it!! I oohed and ahhed as if it were the baby itself. The doc said I was weird. (with a smile) Thank you!! I hold such reverence for the Placenta!!
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Re: confused about placentas
Tue, March 25, 2008 - 11:26 AM~~~We'd like to plant a tree with the placenta along with our dreads we cut off a while ago!~~~
i've been planning to bury the rest of siena's placenta when we plant a tree, and now you gave me a great idea of what to do with all those dreadlocks that my husband just can't part with! they're going in the ground.
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