I trained to become a placenta encapsulation specialist through PBi - the oldest, largest, and most recognized placenta encapsulation organization in the world. I am trained in proper preparation methods according to the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
I follow OSHA, EPA, and FDA safety protocols and have completed food safety & handling training. I am equipped to safely, properly, and legally prepare the placenta for you in a professional manner you can trust.
I am also a single mother to 4 beautiful children. I have always had an interest in herbal medicine and enjoy reading and learning about alternative medicine, nutrition, and childbirth. I am an aspiring doula and midwife and hope to practice as a doula and CPM in California in the future!
I am also a single mother to 4 beautiful children. I have always had an interest in herbal medicine and enjoy reading and learning about alternative medicine, nutrition, and childbirth. I am an aspiring doula and midwife and hope to practice as a doula and CPM in California in the future!
I am passionate about natural childbirth and natural healing. My passion for the two of those led me to pursue an interest in placenta medicine! I hope my blog will help spark an interest in others as well! :-)
I provide placenta encapsulation services to Temecula and the surrounding Southern California areas!
MY STORY
Early motherhood was one of the worst time periods of my
life
.
Yes. I really did
just say that.
And I am not alone.
As many as 25% of the women who give birth each year experience full
blown post partum depression. Motherhood
is supposed to be wonderful and happy and fulfilling, but for many women, this
wonderful blessing becomes a regretted burden that they simply cannot fully
enjoy. How can that be?
The human body is incredibly complex. During pregnancy, hormone levels soar to
accommodate the life that you are creating, but after the birth hormone levels
and receptor sites can sometimes struggle to adjust to the new needs during the
postpartum period. This, along with
other factors, is the cause of “baby blues”.
Baby blues are a common complaint of post partum women. Baby blues are part of a somewhat normal
process of adjusting to having a new baby.
However, for some women these baby blues are the beginning of a spiral
into real depression.
When I gave birth to my first child in 2005 I was still a
senior in high school. It was an
incredibly stressful and difficult time in my life. I felt great for the first 2 to 3 weeks after
my baby was born, and despite all the obstacles in my life, I was in love with
my new baby boy! But the bliss quickly turned
into chaos. I became depressed and
resentful. Even though I had a wonderful
family that was willing to help me, I felt alone and was irrational. I was angry and sometimes mean, and I was
always sad. It was literally one of the
worst periods of my life.
Unfortunately, after the birth of my second child, I
experienced much of the same. At that
point I was married and we wanted to start a family and a
life together but the same feelings arose after the birth of my daughter in 2007. Both births were scheduled c-sections. My first was “too big” (10lbs 12oz!) and
overdue (6 days) and the hospital I gave birth at for my second didn’t allow
VBAC’s. Both births left me feeling very
unsatisfied. I couldn’t stand not being
able to see my baby for hours after the delivery and then seeing pictures of my
newborn child with everyone else while I was in recovery.
My husband and I knew that we wanted 4 children, but I
decided that I could not have another experience like that. I did not want another unneeded c-section and
I did not want to experience another bout of postpartum depression. I had always read about how much joy and
connection that having a child brought to a mother’s life and I wanted so
desperately to feel that.
Since I had 2 c-sections already, my only option was home
birth with a midwife attending me. I set
out on that path to achieve the birth that I wanted but I was still worried
about postpartum depression.
Toward the end of my pregnancy, my midwife talked to me about
placenta medicine.
Uh… Ew. Gross. No thank you!
I was totally turned off by the idea and wasn’t even
interested in seeing or handling or “planting my placenta under a tree” at
all. It was at that same time that I got
an e-mail from a blog I subscribed to all about the benefits of using placenta
medicine. I was absolutely floored! It made so much sense! I couldn’t believe that I had turned my nose
up to it so quickly without even asking (or even wondering!) why and how it
could benefit me.
After researching more I learned all about how the vitamins,
minerals, and hormones in the placenta are perfectly suited to the mother’s
need, because they are made by the mother – for the mother! During pregnancy the placenta secretes and
regulates certain hormones and those hormones are still present in the placenta
after birth and available for use when the mother’s natural hormone levels
bottom out. Not only that, but also most
other mammals eat their placenta after birth, and research has shown that it isn’t
just because it’s a convenient meal or to hide the birth from predators. There seemed to be a true biological reason
as to why they consumed their placentas and it just made biological sense to do
it myself.
So finally, 10 days past my due date, I gave birth (a
VBA2C!) to another big, beautiful, 10 pound baby boy in the comfort of my own
home. I was so happy! But this was during the recession and my
husband had lost his job and had to start a new career that required him to be
gone 28 days out of the month. So 3 days
after I gave birth to our 3rd child, he left me alone to go back to
work. But I felt great! Of course I was sad to see him go again and
being alone had its difficulties, but I didn’t have any issues with postpartum
depression or fatigue. I encapsulated my
placenta and took it religiously to ward off any anxiety, depression, or
fatigue and to increase my milk supply (which I had issues with initially) –
and it worked so well for me!
I gave birth to my 4th and last child last year,
another home birth VBA2C, but I didn’t encapsulate my placenta right away. By that time I had 3 other children and I was
homeschooling 2 of them and I was just so busy that I couldn’t find the time to do
it. After about a month I started
feeling sad and unsatisfied. I took this
as a cue that I needed to get my placenta out of the freezer and take it as
soon as I could. After the
encapsulation, I felt better within just a few days!
It can be difficult to share this remedy with hesitant new
moms, but I really urge people to at least look into it. Postpartum depression and fatigue can take so
much joy out of an experience that is supposed to be one of the best of your
entire life. Every woman deserves a happy, healthy
postpartum experience!
