Step-by-step Photographic Guide to Raw Placenta Encapsulation

I have been doing a series of posts on placentas and placenta encapsulation on the blog.  This all started when a friend of mine (hi Cori!) asked how it could be done and told me I should do a post on it.

Well- I was flooded with pictures of placentas (of all types!  Holy cow we are all so unique.) and many pictures of placenta encapsulation and the process.  The first post focused on pictures of encapsulation using the Chinese method of placenta encapsulation which includes steaming the placenta with some herbs.

Some women prefer however to dehydrate the placenta when it is raw.  Today the pictures will focus on that process.  (This is how I did mine.  One less step!)

I hope these posts are educational and helpful for anybody who is curious on what placenta encapsulation entails or how to do it themselves.

Enjoy~   

Professional placenta picture by Patti Ramos Photography

Raw placenta, cut and placed on the dehydrator.  This mom is doing a raw dehydrated method and so did not steam the placenta prior to dehydration. 

After dehydration.  The placenta will look...well, kind of like beef jerky.  People have asked me if the smell is awful- I can't say I noticed it.  It may smell more if you use your oven (which won't necessarily operate at such a low temperature.)  I dehydrated mine for roughly 24 hours or until every piece was totally dehydrated.  You don't want any moisture left in something that will be ground into a powder. 

After being ground to a powder.  You can make the placenta powder with a spice grinder, a powerful blender, a food processor, or even with a mortar and pestle (I have no idea why you would want to be that old school, but then again, I use regular shampoo so what do I know.)

The finished product, placenta capsules.  Nice and neatly packaged in little easy to consume, low ick factor, capsules. 

Here is another photo tutorial on raw placenta encapsulation.  These were done by a placenta encapsulation specialist.  (The pictures below generously provided by Melynda Petersen
Birth Doula & Placenta Encapsulation.  You can find her online at:  http://melyndapetersen-birthdoula.webs.com/ http://www.facebook.com/Birth.Doula.and.Placenta.Encapsulation )

The rinsed placenta.  You will want to carefully rinse and remove any blood clots from the placenta before you begin processing.  I also carefully remove the membranes and the cord.  Of course you would use sterile gloves if processing a placenta that was not your own.  In fact, I would just use gloves no matter what!

The placenta carefully cut and ready to place on the dehydrator if you are doing a raw encapsulation. 

Placenta on the dehydrator.  I used the top one or two trays and it helps with clean up (and bio-hazard) if you place something under the bottom tray of placenta to catch any drips. 

The umbilical cord.

Nice view of the encapsulator and how it works.  First you place the bottom of the capsules in the encapsulator.  Then you pour the powder onto the bottom, and use the tamper (to the right) to push it down.  The other half of the encapsulator has the other half of the capsules in it and you squeeze the two half's together to make nice, neat, little capsules. 

If you hire somebody to encapsulate your placenta for you, they often do something like this as a keepsake. 

The finished product!

With instructions.  Certainly are some nice touches if you hire somebody to encapsulate for you.