WARNING: There are graphic images in this post.

You may have heard Kourtney Kardashian talking about her placenta pills via her Instagram picture back in 2015. It raked in a massive 259,000 likes and thousands of comments as she stated, “Yummy…PLACENTA pills! No joke…I will be sad when my placenta pills run out. They are life changing!”

Well, for once, I agree with Kourtney!

In 2010, I suffered from postpartum depression (PPD) after the birth of my son. It was the hardest 12 months of my life. 

Nothing can prepare you for the feelings (or lack of feelings) that occurs during PPD. There’s sadness, guilt, worthlessness, and anxiety coupled with crying, no energy and isolation.

At my 6 weeks postpartum visit with my OBGYN they referred me to a psychiatrist. The next thing I knew I was on a myriad of antidepressants and anxiety medications which were supposed to help, but I’m pretty sure they made me worse (looking back).

I was told that I was suffering from PPD and that the medication wouldn’t make the depression go away, but it would help alleviate the symptoms I was experiencing from the ‘chemical imbalance in my brain’. Great.

6 months later something big happened. I started to feel like myself again.

At the 5 month mark, postpartum, I had started to wean off breastfeeding.

Three weeks later I felt like this huge black cloud had been lifted off me and for the first time in forever I felt happy. I remember laughing at the park with baby and Daddy and thinking about how wonderful our son is. I couldn’t believe I had missed out on this amazing feeling this whole time.

As the next 6 months rolled by, my medication was decreased and 1 year later I was ‘officially’ better. I was told that the percentage of me going through PPD again with any subsequent pregnancies was 99% and to just be prepared to endure it again if I chose to have another child.

Thinking back, I really feel like it wasn’t the drugs that helped me, but rather the shift in hormones that happened after I stopped breastfeeding. This is why I think keeping my hormones stable after birth seemed a good course of action for our next pregnancy.

Fast forward 5+ years as we decided to try again. After I researched everything I could find on PPD, I came to the conclusion that encapsulating my placenta may be the perfect way to keep my hormones level.

What are the benefits of placenta encapsulation? Here’s what they may be with the little scientific information that’s available:

• Increased release of the hormone oxytocin. This is the hormone that helps the uterus shrink down to size and encourages bonding with the baby.
• Restoration of iron levels in the blood.
• Reduced postpartum bleeding.
• Increase in milk production.
• Balance of hormones & decrease of postpartum depression levels.
• Increase in energy levels.

I decided that encapsulating my placenta was definitely worth a try and I went for it. It cost $350 to get about 200 capsules, a bottle of tincture and a raw placenta shake right after labor & delivery. I also received a print of my placenta’s tree of life and a piece of the umbilical cord died and dried into a heart (a keepsake that I didn’t think I’d care about, but I love)!

The result?

It’s been 11 weeks and I am happy to announce that I am PPD free!

I truly believe that encapsulating my placenta helped me to ward off PPD, along with getting lots of sunshine and being positive. I can tell you from experience that it definitely increases milk supply and increases energy along and I feel it kept my hormones balanced properly.

I’m 41 years young and done having babies, but if I were younger and still wanted to grow our family, I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat!

What are your thoughts on placenta encapsulation? Would you ever give it a go?