Who could ever have imagined that for the past 10 years I have been processing placentas for Melbourne women. It all started in 2013, and continues today after 750 unique and beautiful placentas have been carefully and lovingly turned into capsules. I look forward to supporting many more families over this special time.
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Ive just processed my 200th placenta, and was delighted to be able to deliver the capsules and tincture to a well deserving new mum FREE as a surprise. The general feedback I've been getting recently just confirms the wonderful benefits your placenta can provide. Here are a couple of comments from this week:
"My decision to choose Felicity for placental encapsulation was a no brainer, she was gorgeous on the phone, explained everything in detail, was a pleasure to deal with, not to mention she picked up the placenta easily and effortlessly to then return my capsules and tincture the next day. As I hadn't encapsulated my placenta for my first child the difference was incredible. I didn't expect to feel so good post birth especially after a emergency c section after a tried VBAC. My energy levels through to my milk supply through to being calm and in control is amazing. Best decision I ever made. Family and friends have commented on how I look post birth in awe. I can not thank you enough. " – Andrea, Aug 2016 and this: “Thank you so much for my placenta pills - I honestly believe they are making the world of difference (hubby and I were actually asking the midwives if it was normal to feel so good in the days after birth!!) I truly believe the placenta pills are the reason for my quick recovery and high energy. Alongside this I have an absolute abundance of milk! During pregnancy I was so worried I wouldn't have a big enough supply for my little guy and would have to give up my dream of breastfeeding but I well and truly have more than enough and feeding Sebastian is the best part of my days. I have so much energy and milk and can't believe how good I feel both mentally and physically. Thank you so much for my placenta print and cord too! They are beautiful keepsakes and I am so glad I came across your services on Google. You are truly one in a million Felicity and I am so glad I got my placenta encapsulated! I can't believe how quickly you returned the pills after collection and how lovely you were/are! I honestly can't thank you enough - I will be so devastated when the pills run out! “– Name withheld for privacy, Aug 2016 This has been asked on a few occasions, and the short answer is YES. The placenta contains levels of heavy metals that some would suggest unsafe to consume your placenta. However, of the 3 main heavy metals being mercury, cadmium and lead, none of these pose an increased risk when ingesting the placenta post birth. There is not a notable amount of mercury to even mention. Cadmium is present, and is around 2 to 3 times higher in smokers placentas, however the European Food Safety Authority suggest a maximum daily intake of around 24 ug of Cadmium, and an average smokers placenta would contain 6 ug, so even if you consumed the entire placenta in one sitting, it would be considerably lower than the daily recommendation. Lastly lead. The average placenta contains around 5 ng/g of lead. Compare this to the maximum levels of lead allowed in the production of Candy in the USA - cannot exceed 100 ng/g it looks like the placenta is a better option that eating a jelly snake!!!
\Have a read of this article to give you the full run down. http://www.placentaassociation.com/#!Uncovering-the-Truth-About-Bacteria-and-Heavy-Metals-in-the-Placenta/cq9b/558865c00cf27a6b7458e941 Today I received some lovely feedback from a gorgeous mum who has just had her second baby and decided to have her placenta encapsulated, and ingest these daily. I also discovered that she is a GP with a whole host of amazing qualifications. Here is what she had to say about ingesting her placenta pills:
A massive thank you for the placenta capsules, tincture, cord keepsake and placenta print - all really lovely and way beyond what I expected! This time (with the help of your capsules) milk came in just before day 3, and since then abundant in supply (am now feeding bub and also pumping stock as well). Felt quite energetic post delivery this time - even though the nights are interrupted by feeds, during the daytime feeling quite good. Had a brief teary moment on day 3-4 when husband and toddler returned home (they were previously staying with us at the hospital) and the occasional 'odd' feeling during the first few days, but otherwise mood thankfully has been much more stable. And now at day 11 post delivery, feel quite like my 'normal' self. Not only is Nat now caring for a toddler and a newborn, she is blogging fantastic evidence based medicine relating to excercise and health during pregnancy. Some wonderful words here about delayed cord clamping. I was fortunate to visit the Bumi Sehat Clinic in Ubud in 2013 and see the amazing work Robin and her team are doing all over the world. I first found out about placenta encapsulation through a good friend who had just had her second baby. He son was born 5 weeks early and I was astounded at how much milk supply and energy my friend had so I set about to do some research.
With my first 2 children breastfeeding was a real challenge and I was told I had low milk supply and needed to supplement feeds. It was all pretty stressful and busy. I couldn’t believe the difference this time around having encapsulated my placenta. I had tons of colostrum as I started the capsules within 24 hours after birth and my milk came in fast where it usually took 5 days. On top of that I felt great. No hormone crash or feelings of no being able to cope. It’s a very noticeable difference for me comparing the recovery to my other 2 children. I can’t speak highly enough of Felicity and the work she does for women and think it would be great to get the word out more to women. It was all a very easy process to organise and having the capsules so soon after giving birth is so helpful. Thanks again felicity. Feeling quite attached to my pills !!! Makes me smile when my husband emails me articles from the newspapers about things that I'm so passionate about!
This one is about people spending thousands of dollars (upwards of $3,000 - $5,000) to store their childs cord blood (stem cells) and cord tissue for possible future use. From what I have read, the only current use for cord blood stem cells is to treat some forms of leukaemia, with other forms of leukaemia being treated and indicating better outcomes from cord blood donated via the public cord blood bank (this can improve the control of the disease if it is not from the host). Cord blood tissue is being banked for regenerative medicine (whereby therapies are being developed - not yet available) for previously untreatable diseases and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, renal failure, osteoporosis, and spinal cord injuries. So you can bank your cord tissue and pay a small fortune, but there are no uses for it yet. Makes me cringe when I read that the cord must be clamped and cut as soon as the baby is born, and that the cord blood collected is blood that would routinely be thrown out! Almost all of my clients opt for delayed cord clamping (and I mean 5 - 60 minutes) so there is no way the blood is going to be thrown out. The choice to give you child the best start to life is by giving them what is rightly theirs - all their blood. When a baby is born their blood is still circulating between their tiny pink body and their juicy fat placenta still inside their mammas belly. With a tiny newborn having around 300ml of blood circulating through their system when they are born, there is still about 100ml of this blood moving through the placenta and umbilical cord. That's 1/3 of their entire blood supply just gone if the cord is clamped at birth. Clamping and cutting the cord immediately after birth deprives these little bodies of stem cells, oxygen, nutrients, and the facility which is helping all their organs function. Apparently it takes about 3 minutes to collect the cord blood, and according to one private blood bank, "does not alter the birthing process in any way". Hmmm, I'd have to say firstly having another stranger in the room waiting for you to birth your baby would be a little uncomfortable, and secondly it absolutely alters the birthing process in SO many ways. Rushing those first moments when a newborn is birthed and lifted up onto its mothers chest, having another pair of gloved hands handling the newborn, forcing the baby's organs to kick in when they just may not be ready, not allowing a woman to choose a natural third stage of labour (birthing the placenta without drugs), and the list goes on... Why would parents not opt for a healthy baby at birth with a body full of everything it was intended to have, rather than a body fighting from the first second to regenerate extra cells to replenish the ones his parents decided to "hold on to" just in case he needed them in the future. I'd like to think there will be the medical technology in future years to not warrant the need for cord blood banking. Time will only tell. Read the article from The Age here. http://www.theage.com.au/national/health/parents-pay-to-store-their-babies-cord-blood-but-few-ever-use-it-20140308-34efi.html It makes me so happy doing my follow up calls to hear that clients taking their Placenta Capsules are simply amazed at how well they are recovering after their birth, and how muck milk they have!!! One beautiful mumma who had a premmie at 36 weeks, was producing so much milk that her midwives told her to reduce the expressing (or whatever it was she was taking that was helping her to produce so much milk). So nice to see midwives taking an interest in Placenta Encapsulation and the wonderful ways it can help new mums enjoy their babymoon and beyond. If you know someone having a baby and think that they may be interested in improving their post partum recovery, please put them in touch with me. x
After 3 intensive days of training at The Women's Hospital, I have completed my Childbirth Education training! It was an amazing couple of days with some highly educated specialists sharing their wisdom on labour, birth and the newborn. With some lesson planning to take care of in the coming weeks, I look forward to working with couples in their homes, to share this knowledge and help to create a greater understanding of birth and all that surrounds it.
Thanks to all the wonderful midwives I trained with, sharing their stories and experiences too. This is another good article about delayed cord clamping and the benefits to babies in the first minutes of life. On one hand the doctors say it benefits the baby greatly, and on the other hand they say its only beneficial for premature babies. In my view, all babies should be left alone at birth and given the best chance to begin life gently and with everything they need; including the extra 100mls of blood in the placenta and cord.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/research-to-aid-premature-babies/story-fni0fiyv-1226789758592 Blessings, Felicity |
Felicity Meisel
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