Placenta Care Instructions
Preparing for birth:
- Make sure you inform your care provider that you will be keeping your placenta for consumption, and that you have a print out of how to handle and store it before your specialist arrives.
- If possible, call (6am-8pm) or text the phone number supplies by your specialist when labor begins to let us know your placenta may be available for pick up soon. This allows us time to prepare our tools and location ahead of time.
- Pack your Placenta Kit in your birth bag. Each client who registers two weeks before their EDD will be mailed a cooler and all the necessary tools needed to package and store their placenta until we are able to come retrieve it. Please make sure you follow the printed instructions that come in your kit.
- Make sure that all balances have been paid so you do not have to worry about that while you are in labor, or trying to heal from birth.
- Call or text anytime after birth. We try to make sure we pickup within 1-2 hours after the birth, but sometimes delays happen. If you do not get a response to a text within an hour of normal business hours, please call. Sometimes technology fails us an text messages do not create a notification and we would hate for you to feel like you cannot get a hold of us.
- Store your placenta in the designated placenta kit until we arrive. Please get the placenta on ice within three hours of birth.
- Do not allow your placenta to be sent to the pathology department. We cannot accept a placenta that has been sent to pathology. If your provider insists that the placenta go to pathology please ask that they take just a small portion of the placenta. We cannot guarantee it is safe for consumption once it has left your posession. Even if they refrain from adding chemicals, the work space is not meant to store organs that are meant for consumption and your placenta may come into contact with someone else's bodily fluids. Remember, it's your placenta. Ask to speak to the patient advocate if necessary.
- There will be a label on one of the provided zip lock bags asking questions about your baby (birth time, sex, weight). Please fill this out before your specialist arrives.