So, this is my third attempt at writing this post. You can read  the article to see what it says. I don't have to summarize it for you. You  are able to come to your own conclusions based on your own experiences; this post  is based on mine. What I really want to address is Dr. Melius's statement, "New mothers are such an easy target, and many unscrupulous people take advantage of  their pursuit of a better childbirth experience".

This gets me. Not  because I am taking the reference to being dishonest personally but because he  used 'unscrupulous' and 'better childbirth experience' in the same sentence.  This is a loaded statement and to me resonates on such a personal level that I  hesitate in writing this but then I would not be honoring my authenticity in
feeling the need to discuss or at least bring attention to a conventional  medical doctor using "unscrupulous" and "better childbirth" in the same  sentence.

My experience and bias says to me that this statement means  placenta encapsulation bad and planned C-sections, lots of drugs, and timelines  good. If I were using "unscrupulous" and "better childbirth" in the same  sentence I would be referring to conventional, new methods of childbirth (yes, I  refer to hospital births w/ episiotomies, C-sections, pitocin, epidurals being  routine procedures as new because women have been giving birth far longer than  hospitals have been hosting childbirth) The people who take advantage are the  people who push fear into mamas when they are pregnant, coerce them into making descisions and 'trusting' the experts when their souls and cells are filled with
a synthetic fear purposely played out to manipulate the system and the pawns in the system to have the upper hand.

I DO understand that there is a time and place for all medical intervention and I am thankful for that because it has
saved mamas and babes (and I had medical assistance at my homebirth) but to the extent that it has brought so much fear and manipulation to mothers when they are "an easy target" like Dr. Melius states is what should be cause for concern. 

Why not encourage mothers to have a better childbirth experience? Placentophagy has no ill effects on mama or babe. It was made by the mama to  harbor the child safely through pregnancy! Yes, you could speak to your  lactation consultant when you experience problems with milk production, yes, you can simply speak to your doctor about post-partum blues, depression and anemia, yes, you can buy supplements for lactation, yes, you can be prescribed
pharmaceuticals to elevate your mood, yes, you can surrender to sadness as a  normal side effect of childbirth OR you could encapsulate your placenta first. 

My favorite thing about the encapsulation process is being with the  family hours after their child is born. There is a gentleness and love that is indescribable and incomparable to any other experience I have had. I am so honored to be invited into that space. And then, so honored to work with the placenta, to work with life, to work with the organ that is so ancient, so fragile, so temporary, so wouldn't have a baby, wouldn't have life without it, that I ask why not try encapsulation before buying the other things or talking  to the other people? The placenta is a gift from our child, a gift from our body, the placenta is sustaining even after birth.

The placenta is not something you have to "believe" in.  The proof is in our existance.  The proof is demonstrated by 99% of the animal kingdom that consume their placentas,  and has been practiced in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Today, MiMedx, the Georgia company the article refers to uses donated placentas as injections to treat inflammation and heal wounds, if that isn't proof?!

The coldness of winter, the calmness in the first snow fall, the warmth of family gatherings, the hue of grey that blankets us a majoirty of the winter and the brightness in the sun that pokes through the clouds making the snow glisten, the frost light up and millions of rainbows of colors come alive in frozen dew drops and isicles all in an environment which says:  December.  Within all this beauty a baby boy was born midweek; to a mama that was so surprised by how easy labor and delivery actually was. 

The architecture of birth is transforming. 

As light rejuvinates winter birth rejuvinates life.

As November came to a close  a mama who was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her baby solemnly had to say good bye.  As with all things including birth we do not always have the answers or knowing as to why something happens.  It resonates deep in my cells though that this baby who has not taken  human form will remain a big presence with us throughouth the length of time.  The body was just too small for this child's bigness.  A soul essence has been born and we will forever be able to receive her gifts.