Placenta Magick | Jenny Wren

I've written before about the amazing placenta, and my own experience encapsulating and consuming my own. I believe it is a way to bring our journey to motherhood "full circle", completing the process. There are nutritional and hormonal benefits, but I also think there is something more to it that we don't fully understand...

I've had lots of thoughts swirling around my head about preparation, intention and energy involved when encapsulating. I have to be completely honest that when I came away from my training having worked on a real placenta, I was excited and yet apprehensive. I wasn't sure if it was for me after all. The whole experience had felt completely otherworldly.

When I was preparing my first ever placenta, I wasn't ready to be attuned with somebody else's energy. I had no warning. I'd never experienced anything like it before.

I came home and began to consider how I would like to proceed in this art (and if I would!)

I thought about the placenta, the baby's constant companion in the womb and source of comfort and life.

It was clear to me that as I was drawing feeling from the placenta, surely mine must be going in - like an exchange. Just like when you're about to enter a birth room and you leave your "crap" at the door (personal emotions and worries, stresses of life) in order to be completely there for that woman, the same goes for the placenta. This is special work. 

The first way I get ready to begin my work is to take a few deep breaths and put on my birthing playlist that inspired me for Autumn-Violet's birth as it puts me in the right frame of mind and to harness the strength and beauty of my memories.

When working on the placenta of a friend, I thought long and hard about her birth, how she might be feeling, and my hopes and intentions for her postpartum recovery. I thought about her children and how I hoped that fourth trimester period and transition would go for all of them. Just that simple thinking is willing those positive things to happen. I wanted to put as much happiness and hope into her capsules as I could. 

The magic is in the intention.

The transmitting of feelings definitely happens the other way too, which was what I struggled with in my training as it overwhelmed me. 

One placenta I can only describe as joyous. While working on it I was at a difficult point in my life, and I found myself grinning as joy sparked within me as I cut the placenta into thin slices. It had such a lovely feeling emanating from it that I just had to message the mum to let her know how much I was enjoying the process. There was no other reason for me to be so randomly happy at that point. I definitely wanted to give something back - I thought of the specific reasons she wanted her placenta encapsulated, and her difficult experiences, her beautiful birth and family and focused just on that until I was done.

While preparing my own placenta I felt a bit dizzy, like I was getting vibrations from it!

What we put into our bodies is so important, and I definitely believe that emotions and energies can be transferred in this way, especially with something as miraculous and unique as the placenta. I am still learning, and enjoying getting to "know" all these different amazing and life-sustaining placentas and hope more women can benefit from remedies postnatally.

Cord Burning: Reclaiming the Sacred Third Stage

When we decided to freebirth, we had to make a decision as to how we would separate Autumn-Violet from her placenta. In most hospital or home births, that is done with clamps and scissors, or maybe a cord tie, which are gaining in popularity.

Having recently trained as an IPEN placenta encapsulator, my fascination with the placenta had grown and I became very interested in the concept of lotus birth. The placenta is considered in many cultures to be the baby's twin, its other self, and the harsh separation with scissors can come as a shock to the baby as it is cut off from its blood, oxygen, nutrient supply and constant companion. Particularly if the one separating them is a stranger, or even the father of the baby. The baby may even experience this as violent.

Although I loved the idea of lotus birth, that is, leaving baby and placenta attached until the cord naturally falls off, I also wanted to use my placenta for remedies. That means it must be chilled very soon after birth. We decided that cord burning was a good compromise, a gentle and gradual way of separating baby and placenta, while within the time limits of good food hygiene to make sure the placenta was fit for consumption.

Cord burning is essential in some countries where the cleanliness of tools cannot be guaranteed. It is a hygienic, accessible way for all. In old China they believed burning the cord was warming and helped to move "Qi" into the baby. Anecdotally, this is said to help birth recovery for both mum and baby and boost milk production. It can also show visible improvement in babies with low APGAR scores and get them to "pink up". There is no need for a clamp as the umbilical cord is clean and cauterised by the flame. I decided to write "lotus birth" on our birth plan to ensure we could do it in private.

In preparation for this ritual, Autumn-Violet's father made candles himself from stubs of the candles we light while in the bath. He melted them down and added essential oils, then reset them. He liked the idea of creating the candles that would separate the baby from the placenta and having a greater involvement in the birth experience.

After a stressful birthing of the placenta that took two hours to come, I was relieved to return to the sofa with my baby and her placenta. We had a midwife to check the placenta and perineum, and after she left we decided it was time for Autumn-Violet to say goodbye to her womb companion.

Autumn-Violet's father had made a cardboard shield from a cereal box a few days prior (circle with a slit for the cord) and we used this to create a distance between the baby and the flame. She latched on for a feed and her father held the candle to the white umbilical cord. The flame gently crackled and began to blacken the umbilical cord as we sat watching the progress. The room was dark, quiet and intimate and we watched as the cord twisted and burned slowly in response to the fire. Eventually there was a louder crackle and Autumn-Violet gave a wriggle as she was fully born into this world.

I am so grateful to Autumn-Violet's father for taking charge during this special process as I really wanted to experience it, but was nervous of getting it wrong. He approached the whole thing with real confidence and assurance and that's what made it feel so powerful to me. I feel so moved that Autumn-Violet was gently separated from her placenta by the confident energy of her father taking charge.

I would definitely choose this method for the third stage again, were I to give birth again. It was a mesmerising, calming event that brought the birth to a beautiful end. If I had to estimate I would say it took ten minutes. Her cord stump  was pointed and black at the end, and although longer than I would have liked for nappy changes, dried and fell off in four days which is a testament to how clean and effective this method is.

Postpartum Healing | Jenny Wren

I wanted to write about my postpartum experience this time, as Autumn-Violet is approaching three weeks old.

There is a strong message in our culture to new mothers to "get back to normal" and "get your body back", as if this massive life event never happened and you need to tame your expanded body back into submission. The reality is that you have done an amazing, life-changing thing. Nothing will ever be the same again. What if, instead of the negative focus on the body, dieting and going to the gym, we told new mums to look for ways to celebrate and nourish themselves? Things have been in some ways easier and some ways harder this time for me. No perineal trauma, no breastfeeding problems... it turns out looking after a newborn is just like riding a bike, but with an older child to care for. These are the things I have done to help heal myself this time...

Stayed in bed(ish). For a week.

I'm not going to pretend I wasn't resistant to this. I had the guilt big time. I often tried to get up and do just one little job.

Spending all week watching 'Call the Midwife', eating whatever I wanted and just breastfeeding and cuddling my baby was the best thing I could have done. It was daunting to jump into life as a mother of two at the end of the week and cope with everything on my own, but I'll never get that time back where it was just me and her... it was like a little holiday!

Photo by Sam Gadsden (http://www.caerphillydoula.co.uk/)

Write my birth story.

I was 'high' from Autumn-Violet's birth for a good week, then I felt myself become teary and overwhelmed as reality set in. Writing the story so soon after the birth was a really good way of releasing emotion and being able to relive those empowering, magical moments and remind myself what I was capable of when I was feeling exhausted and drained.

Belly Binding

I'd never heard of this until I met the lovely doula Sally Light (who also makes and sells these wraps). While initially this may seem like a corset, it's actually a lovely way to provide support to the separated abdominal muscles that must now come back together, as well as helping your internal organs return to their usual place.

I wore this all day, every day for the first week postpartum and it gives the lovely sensation of stability and being 'held', as well as improving your posture. Wearing this belly wrap made me feel beautiful, no small feat - it had caught my eye at the Doula UK RGM and I knew I had to have it.

 

Placenta Smoothie & Encapsulation

I wasn't sure if I'd be up to the task of doing my own placenta, but I figured if I could at least get it dried the rest could wait. We blended some of the placenta raw (the most beneficial way to consume) with blackberries that we picked up the Garth and pear to make a smoothie and I cut and dried the rest before grinding and encapsulating it a few days later.

Placenta consumption has a positive impact on a mother's milk production and also contains really important hormones such as oxytocin (for bonding), interferon, cortisone and TSH (and many more!) to aid postpartum healing, as well as replacing lost iron. I think it's definitely helped with my mood and energy levels.

I feel like consuming the placenta is a way of completing the birth cycle that started at conception, and that is very meaningful to me moving forward as a new mother.

Babywearing

I love the weight of a newborn baby in a sling. It mimics your baby bump that you may already be missing, to give your body time to adjust to the suden change. It can be so comforting to lay a hand on your wrapped baby and feel them contained again.

Then there's the amazing smell of your baby's head and all the oxytocin you get from having them right there! This can be a big mood elevator. Having them so close also stimulates prolactin, which aids with milk supply. Knowing that you are meeting their need for closeness without actually doing anything. That can make you feel incredibly competent as a new mother, especially when coping with older children and having your hands free. 

It's kind to the body. If we think about the postnatal body and the separated stomach muscles (diastasis recti), the hormone relaxin making everything a bit too unstable and flexible, babywearing is the perfect solution. It tones the pelvic floor, draws the muscles back together, improves posture and reduces back injury caused by bending to carry heavy carseats or push a pushchair. 

Autumn-Violet outside her old home, 2w5d postpartum. Trying not to shy away from the realities of the postpartum body.

I think there needs to be a huge shift in the way we treat mothers after birth. While we may never get a traditional 'lying-in' back, and families often live far away, unable to provide support, there are things we can incorporate to make the transition as gentle as possible. Trying to do too much can impact on maternal mental health, bonding and breastfeeding, what could be more important? We know that intense exercise focusing on the stomach actually impedes healing of the muscles and can cause long-term damage. How can we commemorate this time, celebrate the new mother that was birthed, and make fond memories, bond with our babies and nourish ourselves? Even while doing school runs, running errands and cooking meals?

How did you spend your postpartum period?