"Where is my placenta?"

"Where does it go after it is taken from me?"

"How is it cared for?"

"How do I know what I get back is mine?"

Questions like these are common when a mom wants to encapsulate her placenta.  These questions are ones a trained or certified Postpartum Placenta Specialist (PPS) will never have to answer! A professional, trained and/or certified as a PPS must guarantee her clients the best care and when it comes to placenta encapsulation the best care needs to be the safest care for her client, her family and herself.

The PPS stands out from other placenta encapsulators because of the standards they use to honor this sacred part of a mother. The biggest standards, being that the certified PPS encapsulates in the mother's home and he/she is not responsible for transporting it from the hospital or birthing location to the mother's home. The placenta stays with the mother.  The mother's own body and baby created it. It is unique only to her.  

Now for some, these standards make sense. Why? Because it is a guarantee for the mother. Some scoff at that and may argue the mother is not being given a choice, but the client still has a choice.  If she is not happy or comfortable with the standards of care for her sacred organ she certainly has the choice to find another specialist who will offer what she so desires. Just like a woman has the choice in finding the best care provider for her birth and the best doula for the support she needs. 

How does one guarantee a mother that the placenta prepared for her is in fact hers and it is being done in a clean place? By word of mouth, a referral? By guaranteeing your word? By informing the mother you have done hundreds with no mistakes? Yes that may be enough for you as a mother or an encapsulator. Even if an encapsulator has what they believe is a fool proof system, it is not a guarantee. It can be better and it is.   

The postpartum placenta specialist approaches her time around the mother and the steps involved in her work as sacred and as a time of reflection. It is a time to honor, pause and respect all that the mother is and has become. The Postpartum Placenta Specialist provides an amazing experience for the mother in caring for her placenta and also the mother in her home. 

To find out more about Placenta Services at Northern Virginia Birth Services click here.