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Placenta Encapsulation Pre & Postnatal Period

Channel 3 MiVT: Placenta Encapsulation in VT & NH

Channel 3 MiVT: Placenta Encapsulation in VT & NH

Tara Carpenter, CPES.

Bringing hormonal support to new mothers in Vermont since 2011.

By Gina Bullard

STOWE, VT. 

At first glance it’s hard to tell if Tara Carpenter is a chef or a medical examiner. She’s actually a certified placenta encapsulation specialist.

Carpenter turns a woman’s placenta into pills — post birth.  “I’ve got a nutritional background which brought me to this work,” she said. The placenta contains iron, hormones, protein, B vitamins, and other nutrients to support new moms. read more

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Placenta Encapsulation

The Gift of Placenta Encapsulation

The day my youngest turned 5, I encapsulated his placenta. Yes, it was ‘old’ with likely next to nil hormones, but I didn’t feel I had anything to lose. A colleague of mine had recently encapsulated her daughter’s two-year old frozen placenta

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Placenta Encapsulation Pre & Postnatal Period

Group B Strep Infection & Placenta Encapsulation

Can a Group B Strep positive (GBS+) mom use placenta capsules? In short, it depends on the type of preparation method used.

​NOT ALL ENCAPSULATIONISTS USE THE SAME SAFETY STANDARDS

I am trained to prepare placenta in capsule form using a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) method that is on file with the FDA; a method that addresses the issue of bacterial pathogens. I have safely prepared placenta capsules for Group B Strep (GBS+) positive moms since 2011.

The TCM method has been used for postpartum healing as far back as 600 AD to establish homeostasis in a new mother. This method is in accordance with USDA standards for raw meat preparation and involves a heating portion.

During the cooking part of the process, the placenta is heated to an internal temperature of at least 160°(F). At this temperature, pathogenic bacteria (i.e. E.Coli, GBS, Salmonella) are destroyed. I follow the same guidelines required of any regular food service establishment and my method (PBi method of preparation) is on file with the FDA and has been thoroughly inspected and approved.  

I have served GBS+ moms since 2011 with good results and my service has been provided to going on 400 mothers through Vermont. The health and well-being of a new mother and her new baby is of utmost concern. 

Recent CDC Case

There is a case regarding the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) circulating the media found here, where a baby tested positive for GBS after the mom took placenta capsules (this mom had not tested positive for GBS). So, how could the baby develop a GBS infection from the mom taking placenta capsules?

Listed below are possible reasons how that baby may have developed a GBS+ infection from the capsules taken by a non-GBS infected mother; including a few discrepancies with the actual case study.

Note: the Encapsulator preparing the capsules in this CDC case must be set apart from my work, and that of other PBi-trained Encapsulationists, due to reasons shown below.

1) The placenta in the CDC case was prepared using a raw method. This means the Encapsulator cleaned and dehydrated the placenta; bypassing the heating portion. Most dehydrators do not go above 160° (F) and the Encapsulator in question dehydrated the placenta at 115°-159° F. This is dangerous because does not allow the internal temperature of the placenta to reach safe temperatures for consumption. Bacteria cannot be destroyed at this temperature. I do not offer raw preparation for this reason. 

2) I am a PBi-trained placenta Encapsulationist and encapsulate in the new mom’s home. The Encapsulator in the CDC case offers a service where she picks up the placenta, processes in her home kitchen, and returns it in capsules form to new mom. The condition of transport is unknown as is the possibility of mix-up and cross contamination if this Encapsulator was working with multiple placentas. Cross contamination or a mix-up may have been factors since the mother in this case had not tested GBS+.

3) I recommend that new mothers store their placenta capsules in freezer. The Encapsulator in the CDC case suggests keeping (raw) capsules at room temperature. 

A few discrepancies with the actual case study: ​

  • This inconclusive, single case study establishes no clear link between the baby becoming ill and placenta pills.
  • The baby in the case study became ill shortly after birth. This is a fact that seems to be generally overlooked. The case study starts out by saying the baby was sick with early-onset GBS, having developed symptoms shortly after birth (this would be well before the commencement of encapsulation services and the placenta may still have been in the hospital or with the new mother). Five days after the completion of an eleven-day course of ampicillin and a stay in the NICU, the baby re-developed a group B strep infection.
  • The report states “transmission from other colonized household members could not be ruled out”, another fact generally overlooked.
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    Placenta Encapsulation Pre & Postnatal Period

    EAT MY WHAT?! : The Bridge Newspaper Article

    Eat My What?! The Bridge newspaper article on VT placenta encapsulation

    Tara Carpenter, CPES.

    Bringing hormonal support to new mothers in Vermont since 2011.

    Posted by The Bridge on February 7, 2013, News & Features

    on Tara Carpenter, PBi-certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist (CPES)

    Each woman bounces back from birth in her own way, but many hav hormonal fluctuations during the postpartum recovery. This is normal. Many women also lose iron during birth. This iron loss combined with the hormonal dips can leave some new moms feeling less than good.

    Categories
    Placenta Encapsulation

    How to Lotus Birth & Encapsulate Placenta

    Tara, PBi-Certified Placenta Encapsulationist

    If you want to have a lotus birth AND encapsulate, here are three ways to do so:

    #1 Way) Keep baby connected to umbilical cord and the placenta for up to 4 hours. This is the easiest way to keep the placenta fit for

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    Birth Pre & Postnatal Period

    Benefits of Delayed Cord Clamping

    close up of an umbilical cord still attached
    Seconds after birth, with cord full of blood.

    When baby is born, he only has 2/3 of his blood is in his body. The remaining 1/3 remains in his umbilical cord and placenta. This blood does not flow into baby until the last stage of labor.

    What is the last stage of labor? It is that period of time after baby is born until the time the placenta is born. It’s this stage of labor that the cord actively pumps the remaining blood into baby; blood that is very rich in iron, oxygen, and stem cells.

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    Placenta Encapsulation Pre & Postnatal Period

    If You Want to Request Placenta Pick-Up/Drop-Off Services – READ THIS

    Tara Carpenter, PBi-Certified Placenta Encapsulationist and Mentor

    PLEASE don’t allow anyone to pick up your placenta, take it from you, and bring it back to you in capsule form. Read the information below to see why I don’t offer a pick up/drop off service and why it’s best that you don’t seek them.

    VT and NH have strict standards for facilities that prepare substances for people to consume. Let’s say, you want to start a cookie business …. your facility will need to be licensed and regularly inspected by the local Health Department.

    These rules are in place to ensure that the cookies are made in a safe environment by someone who is trained to handle food and follow sanitation procedures.

    If you make (and sell) those cookies without a license, then you are operating illegally. If this is the case for cookies, then you can see why this same rule must apply to placenta. Unfortunately, there are not currently any FDA inspected facilities in the U.S. that have been approved for the preparation of placenta.

    What does this all mean?

    This means that a Placenta Encapsulator, like myself, must work in my client’s kitchen. The day that the FDA approves a facility for me to prepare placenta capsules in, is the day that I will change this lingo. For now, I encapsulate each mother’s placenta in her kitchen or that of a friend or family member’s kitchen space; never my own.

    Here are the reasons why I prepare placenta capsules in the new mother’s home:

  • It’s illegal in Vermont and New Hampshire to encapsulate a placenta that is not my own in my personal kitchen.
  • You know your placenta has been stored at a consistent food temperature.
  • You know your capsules are prepared in a clean environment (without regular health inspections and monitoring, the only way to know that your capsules are prepared in a clean environment is to have them prepared in your home).
  • As a Certified Encapsulationist, I must follow Federal (OSHA/EPA) guidelines to ensure I am handling your placenta in a clean, safe environment and disinfecting blood-borne pathogens in the proper fashion.
  • I follow a PBi-method of preparation that is on file and documented with the FDA. This means I am unable to legally encapsulate anywhere but your kitchen; or that of a friend/family member who has given consent.
  • It’s important that you know you are getting your placenta and only your placenta (Miami Maternity Center under fire).
  • So you can observe your capsules being made, even take pictures if you’d like.
  • There is currently no approved facility where I can prepare placenta capsules other then your kitchen (or that of a friend/family member).
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