Top 4 Placenta Encapsulation Safety Myths: BUSTED

Amber, RN-BSN, ICCE, ICD

Back when I first started encapsulating placentas, way back in the olden days of 2011, things were a lot different. People talked about it in whispered conversations with looks of "Ewwww!" on their faces. I didn't even mention that I encapsulated placentas to 99.5% of the people I knew--and I didn't know of anyone else in town who provided the service. There was maybe one training organization for placenta encapsulation, and carrying placentas out of the hospital in unmarked coolers felt like black market smuggling.

Well here we are, nine years later, and boy things are different. Tons of providers. Tons of talk about it on social media. Several certifying organizations. AND, instead of placentas being whisked out of hospitals in the dark of night, specialists (including myself) proudly provide branded coolers for placenta collection and storage. And instead of preparing the occasional placenta here and there, it's a THING for many encapsulation specialists who now prepare ten, twenty, even forty placentas a month! 

So now that it's more than socially acceptable to utter the words "placenta encapsulation", AND since  1) we've seen TONS of questions from moms on social media and 2) we've also seen TONS of potentially misleading information and unsafe practices being publicized, I'm about to bust the Top 4 Safety Myths we've come across about the process. 

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Myth #1: Training Doesn't Matter
Anyone can encapsulate a placenta. I mean how hard can it really be? All you do is cut it up, dry it out, grind it up and stick it in capsules, right?

Let's rewind to 2011 when I was first asked by a childbirth education client about placenta encapsulation. Placenta encapsulation?? I had heard the term whispered in Facebook groups about birth, but I didn't know anyone who actually did it. And there was very little information on official training programs out there. When I started to do my research, it seemed like a majority of providers had learned from another provider or the always-available University of Google. I originally chose to train with a lovely midwife out of the local area who had been handling and processing placentas for her entire career--close to 40 years. And then I supplemented what she taught me with information from UOG (University of Google) and the knowledge base I had from several prior food handling certifications to make my offerings as safe as I thought I possibly could, not only for my clients but for my family. Well guess what? When I started my official certification in 2014 I was BLOWN AWAY by all the information I had overlooked, not known, or not found during my self-implemented training program.

My training was so thorough that I realized I had only been cutting corners by not seeking official, structured training in the first place. And now, when I get inquiries from folks saying they are clients, but asking very specific questions about how I process, I sometimes wonder if they are actually trying to get into the industry the "old-fashioned way"--depending on information from already-established providers, and the good ol' U of G. 

Proper transportation and storage includes the ability to transport over state lines as well as shipping placentas (not usually safe/recommended either since safe temps cannot be guaranteed to be maintained without a specialized, constantly-climate controlled shipping method).

A good training course will cover: 

• Proper transportation and storage: this includes the ability to transport over state lines (not generally recommended) as well as shipping placentas (not usually safe/recommended either since safe temps cannot be guaranteed to be maintained without a specialized, constantly-climate controlled shipping method).
• Proper preparation timing--when to put it on ice, how long to store in the fridge/cooler,  when to freeze, and how long to dehydrate/steam.
• Proper equipment to avoid cross contamination (think--crevices in knives, where the fan on a dehydrator is located, and rivets in steaming pots. Oh, and how NOT to use an oven to "dehydrate"--it's a really unsafe practice in the placenta encapsulation world since an oven does not circulate air and can cause moisture retention.)
• ​​​Proper personal protection (body coverings) to protect the specialist from the blood products AND to protect the client from anything the specialist might pass back. This goes above and beyond normal personal protection for safe food handling since placenta prep is a combination of food prep and blood born pathogen avoidance. 
• Safe handling temperatures, including cooling and heating temps to prevent food-borne illness.
• Proper disinfection required to kill any potential blood borne pathogens.
• Counter-indications for encapsulation.
• Safe instructions for packaging, consumption (dosage) and long-term storage.

SO, be sure to look into your prospective placenta specialist's training. If you find pictures of their organization's training students barefoot with minimal personal protection, common sense says it might be worth thinking again before training with them OR hiring someone trained by them. ​

"​Proper personal protection protects the specialist from the blood products AND protect the client from anything the specialist might pass back. This goes above and beyond normal personal protection for safe food handling since placenta prep is a combination of food prep and blood born pathogen avoidance. "

Myth #2: DIY Is the Way To GO!!
Or is it? While doing your own placenta encapsulation might save you a few bucks when you've already shelled out a ton for baby supplies and medical bills, it could end up costing you in the long run. 

It's definitely POSSIBLE and maybe even necessary to process your placenta yourself, especially if you can't find a qualified provider in your area (like the missionary family I know who moved to Thailand this year). But...

• DIY can be messy. Especially if it's the first time you've ever handled a placenta. Here you are, fresh baby squawking to be fed, and you're having to clean your kitchen before and after making a potentially big mess.
• DIY can be unsafe. Just like any other organ meat, placenta preparation requires specific storage and preparation temps to make it safe for consumption. Unsafe preparation has the potential for causing serious illness, something you definitely don't want to mess with right after having a baby.
• DIY can cost you your placenta. If you aren’t trained in safe preparation, you could potentially ruin your own placenta, before, during, or after the process. No one likes to open their container of placenta capsules and find mold. You can't replace your placenta (at least not without waiting nine months, because YPOLO! - Your Placenta Only Lives Once.)
• DIY can just be a plain hassle. Is this something you really want to mess with in the postpartum? The placenta needs to be handled promptly after birth, and if you DIY, it could be days, or even weeks (you’d have to freeze it and thaw it!) before you are able to turn your attention to it—do you really want to wait that long? You need the nutritional content held within the placenta back in your body as soon as possible after birth for optimal results. With Pensacola Placentas, you will have your placenta back in your possession, stress (and mess!) free within NO MORE than 72 hours after birth. Plus, when you DIY, you don't get the perks that come with professional preparation--like a labeled storage container, guidance on how much to take and when, and the connection with a birth professional in your local area. 

"[regulation] would likely make the process prohibitively expensive and not very accessible to the common mother because of the licenses and facility standards that would be required. [Lack of regulation] is unfortunate because it sets the stage for specialists setting up shop who are practicing with little to no training in potentially unsafe environments."

Myth #3: Placenta Encapsulation is Regulated
Um. Nope. It's not. This is both fortunate and unfortunate. Fortunate because if it WAS regulated, it would likely make the process prohibitively expensive and not very accessible to the common mother because of the licenses and facility standards that would be required (think...pharmaceuticals.) It's unfortunate because it sets the stage for specialists setting up shop who are practicing with little to no training in potentially unsafe environments, AND clients who don't know what the standards SHOULD be. So know this:

• Placenta encapsulation is NOT a cottage food industry. It does not classify as a "food" product UNLESS the provider is offering *actual* food made from placenta like chocolates (yes, this is a thing too!).
• Neither the FDA, DOH, or USDA currently regulate any part of placenta encapsulation. ​Placenta encapsulation falls under the umbrella of nutritional supplements. Did you know that nutritional supplements (herbs, vitamins, protein powders, etc) are largely unregulated too? So you should be questioning where and how your supplements are processed and produced too! AND as placenta specialists providing a nutritional supplement, we CANNOT purport that consuming your placenta provides any for-sure benefits. The science just isn't there to confirm claims about what your placenta does or doesn't do.
• Because regulations don't exist, no regulatory body can certify or “approve” facilities for placenta encapsulation. Every business with a brick and mortar office or workspace must be inspected by the Health Department on a regular basis in order to keep their doors open for public foot traffic. But the inspector is NOT inspecting for placenta preparation or providing an official stamp of approval on the practice or an individual specialist's process and safety.  Saying that a facility/specialist is DOH approved may only call attention to that facility/specialist and create issues for the specialist and their clients (since the government organizations seem to be confused by what placenta encapsulation even is.)

Myth #4: Placenta Encapsulation Should Never Happen in the Specialist's Home
This is a commonly-held opinion; in fact there are two training organizations that require or strongly encourage specialists to ONLY prepare placentas in the client's home. Some clients do want this, BUT preparation in the client's home is not always the safest, when you consider things like kids, pets, or personal food prep alongside the placenta preparation process, and ESPECIALLY considering some of the things I have encountered while preparing placentas in client homes (preparation starts on one day and ends the next day) such as:

• Multiple client fridges which were above the recommend storage temperature by more than 10 degrees.
• The cat I found sitting on the (warm, yummy-smelling!) dehydrator when I returned to finish the process.
• That dog who ate the prepared umbilical cord like a doggie treat.
• That one time the the power went out overnight and the clients were not home.

YIKES! So how is preparation in the specialist's home workspace safer? I can only speak to what I provide my clients--which is a pet & kid free space (yes, technically in my home but not connected to any personal living areas--so NOT my own kitchen). Because it is a private workspace, I am able to maintain rigorous standards for storage and preparation temps (I check temps several times per day), I know whether or not the power is on (I have safeguards in case I leave) and it's never outside of my possession or accessible to anyone else.

Here at Belly to Cradle/Pensacola Placentas, we are always down to answer any and all questions or concerns you might have about hiring us to prepare your placenta! So ask us--we'd love to provide safe, reliable, professional, and transparent placenta preparation for you!

Visit the Pensacola Placentas website for more details and to book today!

Questions to ask your Placenta Preparation Specialist:

1. How were you trained?
2. Where do you prepare placentas? If you prepare in your workspace, what does that look like logistically and what safeguards do you have in place?
3. What temperature safeguards do you use to insure proper storage and preparation?
4. What personal protection equipment do you use? (The more the better!)
5. How do you disinfect your equipment? (The right answer is: submerged in a high-bleach ratio solution.)