Deciding Where to Have Your Placenta Encapsulated

When considering placenta encapsulation, you have to make a few decisions.  In addition to the preparation method, you also need to decide if you want to have the placenta prepared in your home, or in the home of your trained specialist.  In this blog, we are going to cover the pro and cons of each choice and hopefully make the decision a little easier for you.  Often you will hear that one is superior to the other, but here at W.I.S.E, we leave that decision up to you. 

Benefits of having your placenta prepared in your specialist’s workspace:
-Your specialist will come and pick up your placenta, relieving you of the extra responsibility (unless you choose to drop it off and save some money with our discount program)
-Your home remains your own private space, free of the sounds, smells, and sights of the encapsulation process and your visitors need not know if you choose to keep it secret
-If you have given birth in the hospital, you may likely receive your capsules faster because your specialist will not have to wait to be let into your house
-Bonding with your baby is not interrupted.  The pick-up and drop off process only take a few minutes and then you can get back to everything you were doing

Disadvantages to having your placenta prepared in your specialist’s space:
-Not having full access to your placenta while it is being processed
-Unless your specialist offers to face time or Skype during processing, you will not be able to observe the preparation
-If your specialist already has a placenta currently being processed, your capsules will be delayed until they finish the first one
-Less one on one time with your specialist

Benefits to having your placenta prepared in your home:
- Being able to observe your specialist’s preservation area and the actual preparation of your placenta if desired
-You remain in possession of your placenta at all times, with certainty that it is yours                                        
–Being able to have more one on one time with your specialist and having the opportunity to discuss encapsulation more in depth with them and any visitors that you may have

Disadvantages to having your placenta prepared in your own home:
- Your kitchen will be dedicated to placenta preparation and will not be able to be used (or at least the portion being used for encapsulation) while your specialist is working
-You are responsible for transporting your placenta from birth place to your home (unless a homebirth is your birth plan) and maintaining a safe temperature for your placenta
-Your placenta cannot be started until someone is able to be there while the specialist works, delaying the process from hours to days, depending on how your birth goes and if there is anyone available to let the specialist into your home and stay for a few hours
​-Your kitchen will need to be adequately cleaned, organized, and have enough space for the processing to begin
-You will most likely encounter the sounds, sights, and smells that come with the processing of your placenta
-If you are uncomfortable with letting people know about your choice to encapsulate, it may be difficult to hide it when they visit your home
-If your specialist is injured in your home, you may be held liable
-During the 12-24 hours that your placenta is dehydrating, you are responsible for making sure the dehydrator is continually working
-Your kitchen will be exposed to your blood-borne pathogens and the strong chemical disinfectants that are used to sanitize the area before and after

​As you can see, there are benefits and draw backs to each choice, but it is important to remember that if your specialist is trained and diligent, then they are following universal protocols for sanitation and preparation.  Knowing this, we know that it makes each space equally safe.  Feel free to ask your specialist questions to make sure they are following all the proper steps to guarantee their safety and the safety of their clients.  Don’t know what to ask?  Read our blog here.
 
The bottom line is this: If you don’t think you can trust your specialist to process your placenta outside of your home, then maybe they aren’t the specialist for you. In this type of work, there needs to be some sort of trust; not blind trust, but trusting in yourself to be able to pick the right specialist for you, and the right place for your placenta to be processed. So what do you think? Which would work for your family? Let us know about any experiences you have had in the past or what you think you would like best.