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Placenta Preparation

I first learned of mother’s ingesting their placenta as a supplement after childbirth while in school for Traditional Chinese Medicine. This has been in practice in China and many cultures for thousands of years. Almost every mammal ingests their own placenta after the birth, sometimes even ignoring the young until the placenta has been completely ingested.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has used placenta for thousands of years to augment the qi (energy), nourish the blood, and augment the kidney essence. In layman’s terms, it brings the body back into balance, replenishing what was lost during childbirth. In China it is also used for debilitating chronic diseases and widely used as an anti-aging treatment, as well as a variety of other illnesses, including fatigue and insufficient lactation.

In many cultures the placenta is considered the tree of life, and indeed, without it life would not be possible.

Traditionally, placenta capsules have been used to help:

  • Balance your hormones
  • Increase milk supply
  • Combat Fatigue
  • Increase your energy
  • Prevent signs of aging
  • Recover more quickly from childbirth
  • Replenish what was lost during childbirth
  • Bring the body back into balance
  • Prevent and treat the “baby blues”
  • Shorten postnatal bleeding time
  • Increase postnatal iron levels

Studies show that placenta is extremely nutrient rich, high in iron, protein, vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B6 and of course, your own natural hormones. It’s perfectly made for you, by you. Experts agree that the placenta retains hormones, and thus reintroducing them to your system may ease hormonal fluctuations.

Some also believe it can help with:

  • Building baby’s immune system
  • Any type of trauma and life’s many transitions
  • Weaning from breast feeding
  • Healing bone breaks
  • Regulating hormones during menopause

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Hormones and the Placenta

The placenta is an endocrine organ, meaning it is a hormone producing organ.  The placenta begins producing hormones at 6-8 weeks gestation to help sustain pregnancy.  These hormonal levels continually increase during pregnancy, and by the third trimester there are 3 times the normal level of hormones in an expectant mother’s system.  By 4-5 days postpartum, these hormone levels will drop to below normal.  This is a huge fluctuation going from 3 times the normal level to below normal hormonal level, and this is where the healing properties of the placenta come into play.

Here are just a few of the powerful, scientifically known hormones that are produced by the placenta and are still viable and intact after delivery.

So doesn’t it make sense to safely welcome these hormones back into your system as well as your baby’s through your breast milk?

Common Questions About Placenta Encapsulation

Unfortunately the research is some what minimal, but as time goes on and more women continue to choose to benefit from their placentas I am positive that there will be more research proving the placenta’s immense benefits.  For now click here to read some of the studies that are out there.  I have prepared 2500+ placentas now and my clients have benefited tremendously, many of them have even had me back to prepare their placenta for their second and third baby!
Ideally, the placenta should be started within the first 24 to 48 hours, allowing you and baby to benefit from the most potency the placenta has to offer.  Directly after the birth, the placenta should be placed in an enclosed container (the hospital will put it in a plastic container or a bag) in the refrigerator or in a lunch size cooler with ice if you are in the hospital, until it can be taken home and placed in the refrigerator or until I can get there to pick it up. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours. If you know ahead of time that it will not be prepared within that time frame, it is best to place straight into the freezer. It is very rare that I am not available to start the process within the first 24 hours.
I have a fully dedicated lab space where the preparation is done in a clean, sanitized environment, giving you the greatest quality and care you can ask for.  I have obtained the appropriate Bloodborne Pathogen Course Completion Certification and 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.

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This is certainly a valid concern.  I take my career very seriously and would never allow this to happen.  Whether I am only preparing yours that day or I have more than one to prepare, each is properly labeled from the time of pick up all the way to drop off.  Multiple placentas would never be prepared at the same time.  Each is processed one at a time, allowing the necessary time and effort to completely sanitize all equipment and space used.
In most cases I have your capsules ready and back to you within 24 hours, occasionally 48 to 72 hours under unusual circumstances.  I aim to please and my clients are always very impressed with my turnaround time.
I want this process to be as easy as possible for you, eliminating any added stress for you during this time.  I treat every placenta as if it is contaminated, wearing protective gloves, clothing and face mask.  Every piece of equipment and workspace used in the preparation to make your capsules and tincture is properly soaked in a 10% bleach solution for no less than ten minutes, killing any potential pathogens.  If your doctor and the nursing staff feel safe giving you vaginal exams, delivering your baby and your placenta with gloved hands, then I too feel safe in properly handling your placenta.  My not requiring you to go out of your way for a full pathogen report in no way jeopardizes you or any other clients and is quite frankly out of a placenta provider’s scope of practice to ask for such documents.  As well, hospitals will not release a placenta known to have a contagious blood borne pathogen.
Most hospitals in Southern California are great about releasing the placenta.  You should tell your doctor ahead of time that you plan to take your placenta home and write it in your birth plan if you have one.  This way if there is an issue, you can deal with it before you are in labor.  The hospital may ask you to sign a liability release form.  I can also provide you with a form that you can give the hospital if they are reluctant.  If they say it is not their policy to release your placenta to you, ask to see the hospital’s official written policy on this matter.  And know that every single woman who has been denied her placenta and then took the hospital to court has won their case.  Of course it was too late for them to encapsulate their placenta, but that has helped pave the way for others.
If the placenta needs to be taken to pathology ask if they can do a visual exam or if they can cut a small piece to examine instead of taking the whole placenta. If they insist on taking the whole placenta, you insist that it is kept refrigerated before and after examination, that you get it back within 72 hours, that they use a clean field and sterile equipment for examining, and that they use absolutely no solutions, especially their usual formalin which has formaldehyde in it.  If this solution is used, the placenta is no longer a candidate for encapsulation.
I have had many clients who have epidurals and many who have a cesarean birth, they have benefited just as much as my clients who had completely unmedicated births.  It is my understanding that the placenta acts as a filter, filtering out toxins and sending them back to the mother’s liver to be detoxed from the system.
Not a problem.  Nothing died in the process; only life has provided you with these amazing nutrients and benefits.  As well, the dehydrated and powdered placenta is inserted into vegetarian capsules, not gelatin, and stored in a glass amber jar.  The capsules I use are also gluten-free, yeast free and kosher.

What sets me apart from other providers other than my many years of experience in this field, is that I have a fully dedicated lab to prepare in, I am not preparing in my own personal kitchen. Clients are always welcome to visit my space and discounts are offered when drop off and pick up are arranged to my location.

I have a background in Traditional Chinese Medicine and have been properly trained and certified.  I have prepared well over 2500 placentas since 2008 and follow the utmost safety guidelines, having obtained the appropriate Bloodborne Pathogen Course Completion Certification and adhering 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.  I also sit on the advisory board of APPA, a training and certifying organization that sets the highest standard of practice in this industry.

I not only prepare the capsules for you, at no extra charge I prepare a tincture as well, providing you with a lifelong supply of your placenta remedy.  I am no longer taking clients as a doula so I can solely focus on my placenta clients, ensuring a fast turn around time.  I will have your placenta back to you ready to start taking within 24 to 48 hours.

No.  This is not a product.  I am providing a service, I am not selling you anything.  I take what your body naturally made, just as your body naturally makes breast milk for your baby and turn it into something that is palatable for you to ingest.

Although it is advised to begin taking the placenta capsules as soon as possible after delivery, placentas that have been properly frozen, meaning that they were frozen just after delivery and have been double-bagged and protected from freezer-burn can also be encapsulated up to 6 months after birth.  While you may not be getting the postpartum benefits, these capsules can be saved and used for you and your baby throughout the years for any type of transition in life or trauma and can also be used for mommy later in life while transitioning through menopause, using your own natural hormones.
There are different schools of thought about this in TCM.  Some believe that placenta should not be taken if the body is fighting off a common cold, flu, or infection. If mommy should get a breast infection, the placenta should not be taken until infection is cleared. If symptoms such as chills, fever, sneezing, aches, flushed cheeks, hot palms and feet or night sweats should occur, stop taking the capsules until the body has fought this off. The reason for this is because placenta is extremely tonifying in nature and can cause a pathogen to grow stronger and get deeper into the body.

Other schools of thought believe that the placenta can actually help in these times.  Each woman is different and should listen to her body.  If she feels the capsules are helping during these times, then continue, if she feels that it is indeed making the ailment worse, then definitely stop taking them.

What does your fee include?

  • Phone, email or in person (at our location) consultation and logistics planning
  • Pick up an drop off services

  • All materials and supplies
  • Approximately 75-150+ placenta capsules
  • Tincture
  • Umbilical cord keepsake
  • Guidance on pill usage
  • Prints (only upon request)

Complete Package – $350

  • Phone, email or in person (at our location) consultation and logistics planning
  • Client arranges both drop off and pick up to our location
  • All materials and supplies
  • Approximately 75-150+ placenta capsules
  • Tincture
  • Umbilical cord keepsake
  • Guidance on pill usage
  • Prints (only upon request)

Discounted Package – $275

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Contact Sara

Accepted forms of Payment

Cash, check, or PayPal transfer

Gift Certificates Available!

If you know a soon-to-be mommy who really wants to have her placenta prepared but is on a tight budget,
please contact me about a Gift Certificate!

What Client’s Say

“When I found out I was pregnant my husband and I knew we wanted to do something special with the placenta, we had talked about burying it and planting a tree for the baby. The thought of eating my own placenta was a bit of a turnoff until Sara explained to me the process of dehydrating and placing it into capsules. I brought it up with my OB/GYN, she said that it is in fact very nutritious for a new mother and baby, extremely high in protein and not at all uncommon in her practice. I was released from the hospital the day after my son was born and the pills were waiting for me when I got home. This is my first child, so I don’t have anything else to compare it to, but I wouldn’t do it any other way. I did not suffer from post-partum, I am back to doing yoga, the baby is happy and healthy and so am I.”
Claire Weiss, photographer

Sara is amazing and so are her services! I read a lot about placenta encapsulation as a method of alleviating postpartum depression, to which I am predisposed. When I got pregnant I researched a local preparer and Sara‘s resume was so impressive that I contacted her. She stayed in touch with me during my pregnancy and as my due date neared, Sara was quick to responds to my emails and my husband’s texts before and after delivery. Once our beautiful baby girl was born, Sara picked up the placenta at the hospital and prepared it at her home. (We were given the option for her to come to our home or for her to complete the service at her home.) Two days later, Sara drove back to the hospital to bring me the completed product of pills and tincture. I took two pills twice a day for the first two weeks since hormones are typically the lowest during this period. Even recovering from a c-section, I had energy and didn’t experience terrible lows. It is now five weeks later and I am taking two pills once a day. After 6 weeks, I plan to save the rest of the pills for 3 months and 6 months. There are plenty! I am feeling great and am so thankful for Sara and her services! I will absolutely call on her again with my next baby:)

Kate J.

First of all, sanitation and cleanliness were of outmost importance to me when choosing a provider for this service. Sara is the ONLY person I could find in the area that has a dedicated workshop that is held to the highest standards of sanitation. While working in my kitchen was an option, I chose to have Sara prepare the capsules in her workshop.

After using my capsules for several months, I can honestly say I am incredibly disappointed that I did not do placenta encapsulation with my first 3 children. After hearing about Sara and the amazing results of her work by several mommy friends, I decided to give it a try after my 4th pregnancy. The results were nothing short of magical and I honestly wish I had an endless supply of capsules!! (On that note, Sara does supply you with a tincture as part of her services that actually can be used for years postpartum if cared for properly.) The capsules gave me tons of energy and made me feel hormonally balanced during those first few months postpartum. If you’re on the fence about encapsulation, or unsure about who to use, call Sara she’ll talk you through it. I’m SO glad I did!!!

Hillary H.

There was not one thing I’d change about my experience with Sara. She was fantastic.

She communicated effectively and quickly in both the planning and executing after my birth.

My results were fantastic. I didn’t encapsulate with my first but chose to with my second after talking with Sara and had a much better recover with my daughter than I had with my son, physically and emotionally.

Everything was executed professionally, cleanly and sensitively (so important when you have just delivered a baby). Sara came into the hospital to collect the placenta and came back to deliver it the next morning and I hardly remember her being there. She gave us our space while still answering any questions we had.

I referred three of my girlfriends to her as well and after hearing how happy they were I knew I had to write a review so that no other mommies would miss out on her services.

Chanel B.

Sara is THE L.A  placenta lady! Placenta encapsulation has become a trend, with lots of new, less experienced encapsulators popping up. Sara is tried and true. She know her stuff, and she has studied Chinese medicine so she is keenly aware of it’s history, benefits, and proper preparation.
As an L.A doula, I recommend Sara wholeheartedly for her expertise and sweet demeanor. She is also speedy!!!

Katie Johnson, Doula and Midwife

Sara‘s service was professional, convenient, and fast. While I didn’t get to meet her, (my husband did the communication post delivery) Sara and her husband were awesome. They came to the hospital quickly after delivery, and brought me the capsules the next day. This is my first time encapsulating, and I feel it has helped me recover faster, and really helped my milk come in quickly. I can’t wait to use the tincture she prepared as well. I highly recommend their service! Thanks to Sara and her husband!

Paloma F. , Your Content Goes Here

Sara came recommended by a friend who used her services with great results.  I wanted to try the placenta capsules after reading how beneficial they are for the recovery process and also because my 2nd pregnancy triggered depression early on for me.  I weaned myself off the prescribed anti depressant before my delivery and didn’t want to have to take it again in case I had the baby blues which my OB said would most likely happen.  I definitely felt a difference when I stopped taking the anti depressant but I can honestly say I feel totally fine post partum after taking the capsules for 2 weeks!  Sara was very professional and courteous and I will highly recommend her to all my pregger friends.

Angie C.

Sara is wonderful!  She came to the hospital to pick up my placenta hours after giving birth then to my front door step the next day with the beautifully packaged capsules.  They are magic!
I used her services for my second daughter after suffering some postpartum with my first.  I feel amazing!  I highly recommend to any first or send time mother who wants to avoid postpartum!
Sara is easy to work with, so professional and most importantly compassionate.  I would give her 10 stars if I could!!

D. D.

I had done encapsulation in a different state for my first born and had such positive results I was adamant about doing it again after my second delivery. I was nervous I wouldn’t find a good specialist that was not only personable but knew how to properly treat and prepare the placenta. I stumbled upon Sara a bit randomly but from the beginning she was courteous and friendly. I spoke with her ahead of time about my prior experience and immediately felt she was my gal. She prepared my capsules almost immediately after delivery and brought them to me in the hospital the day after 🙂 I have had exceptional energy and milk supply since taking them. I was released from the hospital with above average swelling but within a day it was gone…thank you capsules. I’ve thinned down considerably (it’s been two weeks) because I’ve stopped bleeding and my organs are moving back into their proper placement! Encapsulation has such a positive effect on the body post partum and Sara was a joy and ease to work with to make that happen

Claire C.

I’ve used Sara‘s services twice now and could not be happier. She was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions (especially the first time around!) in a timely, personable, and easy-to-understand way. We live in San Diego but she was able to accommodate us quickly and easily. The package arrived and the presentation was adorable- from the heart shaped umbilical cord to the capsules and bottle of tincture. Needless to say, postpartum, I healed quicker, had great milk supply, and no baby blues. Sara and her services are exceptional- highly recommended!

Christina C.

Gretings cards from your clients are the best motivation.