Category: Profile

What’s the deal with placenta encapsulation?

Are you wondering how to decide about Placenta Encapsulation for your birth? What are the benefits of placenta encapsulation? And what is actually involved in the process? Get the answers from Midwest Doulas’ resident Certified Placenta Encapsulator, Ale Falco.

What is Placenta Encapsulation?

A: Placenta encapsulation is how we process a placenta using the Traditional Chinese Medicine method. We take the placenta, rinse it, remove the membrane and cord, steam it and then dehydrate it. We then grind the dried placenta into a powder and put that powder into capsules for the birthing parent to take like vitamins.

How did you learn how to do the placenta encapsulation process?

A: I learned through APPA, which is a certifying organization with a pretty rigorous placenta processing course. APPA teaches all the research, anatomy, physiology and processes, in addition to OSHA rules for handling bloodborne pathogens in order to safely process a placenta. I had to present my placenta encapsulation process to a board, and they took a picture of every single step and critiqued me as I went. Essentially, it’s like taking a college course, plus documenting all these details about each piece of how to do it safely.

What made you want to learn how to do placenta encapsulation?

I wanted to provide a service that gives the birthing person complete autonomy of choices in the spectrum of the birthing process. I believe people should have informed consent about their options not only in birth, but also with what happens to their placenta. I knew that generally, placenta encapsulators are non-regulated and I wanted to be trained on a process that was a safe and sanitary option for local families in the Twin Cities area.

Let’s get to the more obvious questions — aren’t placentas kind of gross? Is there a lot of blood?

A: There’s really not a lot of blood involved with the placenta encapsulation process. The placenta is simply a vein-filled organ, and there is no blood circulating through it by the time I get it, so it’s mostly clean of blood.

At what point do you receive the placenta from a birth?

A: Typically, we get placenta within a few hours after the birth. If we aren’t able to get it that soon, we give the family a detailed list of tasks to keep the placenta safe for processing and encapsulation.

How long does the placenta encapsulation process take?

A: For active work time it takes about 2.5 hours, but takes a lot of inactive time because the placenta dehydrates for over 12 hours. Because bacteria breeds in moisture, the placenta needs to have absolutely no moisture remaining before grinding it into the powder to put into capsules.

How do you get the placenta into the pills?

A: There’s a small tool used to fill empty capsules with the placenta powder. Typically a placenta creates over 100 double zero capsules, which takes about 20 minutes with the tool we use.

How soon does a person get their placenta pills?

A: Best practice is to process a placenta as quickly as possible. As a result, we typically drop the capsules off at their home within a day or two after we receive the placenta.

Are all placentas the same?

A: No, placentas tend to be different sizes and shapes. They also indicate all sorts of elements that tell different parts of it’s story. The appearance can tell us how the baby grew, how the birth went, and maybe even the environment that the birthing person lived in.

One of my favorite things about the process is when I don’t know the origin story, so I get to study the map of the placenta and make guesses about the story behind it!

What are the benefits of placenta encapsulation?

A: People report less postpartum tiredness, anxiety and milder emotional dips. People have said they also experienced an increase in milk supply and increased healing. There is not a lot of research on potency, but it seems the less a placenta is frozen and the sooner it’s processed, the more nutrients remain in the pills and the greater benefit.

Why is it that we don’t have good research on placenta encapsulation?

A: There is more research coming out, but it takes years to complete a study. It’s not easy to have a randomized control trial on a topic like this, because this topic relies heavily on control groups that are hard to track after people have babies. There are some published studies, but they are quite small in sample size.

If you’re interested in placenta encapsulation services, click here to learn about our services. More questions on placenta encapsulation? Contact us!

10/25/2020
Postpartum Care is Not “Google-able”
If you’re reading this and currently expecting, you’ve likely already researched the best car seats and strollers. But what about your postpartum care?

In the time of easy access to all the information you could ever dream of, right at your fingertips, we have become accustomed to “just Google it” as a quick and easy response to most of life’s challenges. From how to change the oil in our car to online owners’ manuals, and many other “life hacks,” we can learn just about any skill simply by perusing the internet.

Like most expecting parents, Chelsea and Brandon found themselves consulting these same modes of learning we’ve grown accustomed to as they were preparing for their first baby. They read the books, they took the hospital affiliated childbirth class, and they had close family members at the ready to help when baby arrived.

However, things began to reach “you can’t find that on Google” status pretty quickly during their birth. The experience took some twists and turns they hadn’t learned about in their one day class at the hospital.

Chelsea and Brandon had a baby who needed some additional care with a stay in the NICU. After they made it home with their baby, they were looking forward to settling into their new normal, but there were some additional bumps in the road that made them realize there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to birth, breastfeeding, or parenting.

Mom Chelsea with baby Liam, right after birth

Enter… the postpartum doula!

A postpartum doula, like the ones you can find at Midwest Doulas, are magical helpers who provide evidenced-based information on things like feeding, emotional and physical recovery from birth, assistance with infant soothing, and basic newborn care. Research shows that new parents (and their babies) have an easier time with this transition if a good support team is in place.

Like most new parents, Chelsea was looking for the answers to some pretty normal postpartum challenges…
- How can I get my baby to sleep longer?
- How many times a day should I pump?
- How can I get my baby to latch?
But the right answers to these questions are personal to each mom, dad, and baby — they simply don’t come from Google. Yes, you may be able to pick up that newborn sleep training book. And you can find some YouTube videos on proper latching of your baby. However, not all of those “Google-able” solutions apply to the very unique little person that you have in your new baby.

When Chelsea reflected on why the postpartum doula was so valuable she said, “None of the knowledge that you get during pregnancy from reading or the hospital based class were applicable to our kid. That’s why we needed more help from people who could individualize our learning and the support we needed for our unique child.”

A postpartum doula is someone who will come to your home and work within the framework of your specific family unit.

You can choose to have someone come over night to help you with getting a little bit more sleep between feedings, or perhaps you need some daytime help with meal prep, troubleshooting some lactation issues, or just learning how to soothe your baby in a way that keeps you sane in the process.

Whatever the challenges you face postpartum, a good postpartum doula will clearly assess you and your family’s needs and fit in seamlessly without feeling like a burden or another person for you to worry about.

Chelsea found that her baby was struggling with reflux so she needed some professional and calm support.

“I felt like the postpartum doula wasn’t going to be judgmental, and they were going to be patient with my baby who was screaming. I didn’t feel like I was inconveniencing them or making it miserable to be around us.”

So how can you better prepare yourself and build the best possible support system for becoming a new parent?

Here are a few top actions you can take:
- Get a birth doula! There are some great ones here, or check out doulamatch.net
- Take an amazing non-hospital based Childbirth Education class that is interactive, fun, engaging, AND covers all the potential twists and turns.
- Hire a postpartum doula
Asking for help is something not all of us are good at doing, but in order to provide your new baby the best care, you must also allow yourself be cared for — because during the experience of postpartum, you too are learning and growing.
08/06/2020
Why You Need a Doula Now More Than Ever
Under COVID-19 we have been experiencing an upheaval of everything we are accustomed to in our daily lives. Not excluded from this upheaval is the experiences that expectant families have during their births. As a Childbirth Educator I have spent over a decade talking and listening to pregnant people as they prepare to birth their children. Never have I experienced a moment like this where they are no longer trying to negotiate eating and drinking in labor (yes, you should) or being free to move about the labor room (yes, good idea!), but now are facing the very real and possible reality of not having access to their well crafted birth support team.

The research on doulas is decades old, we already know they reduce cesareans and lessen requests for pain medications in those that were intending to birth without. The research is so strong on this front, we haven’t needed to remind people of it in a while. One study done in 2008, byMcGrath and Kennel, provided some useful learnings that are proving applicable in our current birth climate.
1. They discovered that when comparing a birth where there is a doula present with a birth where there is no doula and the birthing person has support from just a spouse/partner, the Cesarean rate for the doula assisted group was a whopping 11.6 percentage points lower than that of the non-doula group. (25% with no doula, 13.4% with a doula)
2. They also discovered that when a birthing person is induced, this change in cesarean rate with the presence of a doula is even MORE pronounced, dropping the rate by 46.3% (58.8% induced no doula, 12.5% induced with doula)
While these new changes are positive, this is certainly not a list of all hospitals in the Twin Cities. We hope that Allina, Methodist and all other hospital in Minnesota will follow suit shortly. Which brings us to the need for VIRTUAL doulas!

The Benefits of Hiring a Doula

The benefits of hiring a doula are many. The range of support usually encompasses emotional, informational, physical, and advocacy. A virtual doula experience can and should hit all of these marks with some creativity!
1. Emotional Support: Now more than ever we are noticing our students and clients are stressed, anxious, and experiencing emotional strain. We KNOW doulas support families in their emotional well being and this is possible in person before you leave for the hospital, in phone calls, texts, and video chatting throughout your birth and postpartum.
2. Informational Support: The rules and recommendations are changing daily and experienced doulas have their finger on the pulse of what the newest information is. This means your doula can guide you through all sorts of twists and turns in your birth so that you can be holding your baby on the other side and feeling a sense of satisfaction and peace.
3. Physical Support: I know you’re going to balk at this one. Like, “Oh yeah, RIGHT, they can’t do that now!” You’d be surprised at how creative doulas are. They’re teaching comfort measures over zoom calls, meeting in backyards with masks, accompanying you in labor at your home prior to your leaving for the hospital. Showing your partner just how and where to squeeze your hips so that they can continue to be prompted when the time is right at the hospital.
4. Advocacy: While we very knowingly stay in our scope as doulas to not ever speak on behalf of our clients, we adopt the definition of doula advocacy from Rebecca Dekkar of Evidenced Based Birth, which states, “Advocacy is supporting the birthing person in their right to make decisions about their own body and baby.” We are seeing a surprisingly strong need for this type of advocacy at this time and experienced doulas like Midwest Doulas deliver on this through all sorts of communication sources.
So what does it look like? How does it work?
Virtual doula-ing works best when the family feels the continuous support of their doula ‘as if’ they are in the room with them. In some cases, that can take the form of a tripod mounted smart phone on a video call. For others, it’s more of a periodic check in via video call or standard phone call. Some decide that they simply want the ability to have access to their doula via text or call at any time to help with forming questions, walking through some informed decision making strategies, coming up with some new coping strategies, or getting an emotional pep talk.

We are hearing overwhelmingly positive things from those parents using virtual doulas. Though we know the ideal scenario is that doulas would be in the room, providing in person continuous support throughout your labor no matter the location.

So please, take the Childbirth Educator’s advice, hire a doula and if you’re birthing in a hospital, contact your care provider and ask them their plan for when the Doulas will be let back in.

– Liz Hochman FACCE, LCCE, CLC, CD(DONA) is the owner and lead teacher of birthED

Liz has been heavily involved in the Twin Cities professional birth community since 2009. She has served over 1,000 families as a Lamaze educator and lactation counselor.

Liz served several years on the board of The Childbirth Collective and currently sits on the Optimal Outcomes in Women’s Health Conference board.
06/25/2020
Five surprising ways that doulas support birthing families!

In a 2012 survey, 27% of those who knew what doulas were but did not hire a doula for their birth said that, in hindsight, they wished they had hired one. Here are five surprising reasons to hire a birth doula you may not have thought of before!

1. Birth doulas help you prepare during pregnancy

You might assume that a birth doula only helps with, well, birth. But doulas can play an important role as families navigate the period before baby is born, too. As your belly grows, people might tell you you’re “glowing,” but if we’re honest, we know pregnancy can sometimes be really unpleasant! Doulas can teach many comfort techniques to help ease the aches and pains of pregnancy (bonus—these techniques work wonders during labor, too!). Pregnancy can also be a bewildering time emotionally. As your body changes, so does your sense of who you are now and who you will be when the baby arrives. Doulas are trained to help you understand and process the physical and emotional changes you are experiencing and adapt to your changing needs. The practical concerns of preparing for the birth of a baby can be overwhelming, too, as you consider what kind of birth you want to have and who your care team will be. Doulas know the providers and facilities in your area and can help you understand the differences between different types of care and different hospitals, birth centers, or homebirth teams. They can help you weigh your options and empower you to make informed decisions that match your values.

2. Birth doulas support the whole family.

Doulas often hear partners ask: “Why should we hire a doula? I’ll be by her side the whole time.” Our answer? A doula’s role is not to replace the father, partner, or support person or people the birthing person has chosen to have by her side during labor. In fact, a doula’s job is to help partners as much as it is to support birthing moms. Our goal is to make room for partners during birth. Doulas are trained to guide partners and support people in the best ways to help during labor. This might mean modeling comfort measures or normalizing what’s happening in the room so the partner can feel confident and calm. As doulas, we love the families we work with, but we’re not as emotionally connected as partners who have known the birthing mom a long time, which means we can be the cool head in the room. And let’s be real—while partners are super, they’re not superhuman. Your doula will be as in tune with your partner or support person’s needs as she is with yours, so they don’t burn themselves out as they support you.

3. Birth doulas stay with you during your labor.

Birth is unpredictable. Even as we learn more and more about what happens to the human body during birth, we still can’t know ahead of time how long labor will take or what might happen over the course of a birth. Hiring a doula gives you one “known” in a sea of “unknowns”: that you’ll have an informed, caring ally by your side from the time you call her until your baby is born. The rest of your care team, while incredibly important and skilled, will be focused on the medical side of things—your health and your baby’s health. Your doula will be fully focused on your emotional and physical needs as you labor, and will use her extensive training to ease physical discomfort and pain. We are trained in centuries-old comfort measures, such as rebozo techniques used by Mexican midwives. (A rebozo is a long piece of cloth, a sort of cross between a scarf and a shawl, and is used for many purposes, including to relieve pressure on the body). We are also up-to-date on the most recent scientific evidence about positioning, movement, and comfort during labor. With training and experience in both ancient wisdom and modern research, your doula can simultaneously soothe and comfort you, offer evidence-based information, help you weigh options in your care, and be your cheerleader.

4. Birth doulas reduce the need for interventions and improve birth outcomes.”

Studies have indicated that hiring a doula can have a significant impact on your birthing experience. According to Evidence Based Birth, a doula supporting you during labor has been shown to shorten labor by an average of 41 minutes, decrease your risk of a C-section by 39%, and increase your likelihood of a spontaneous vaginal birth by 15%. Doula support impacts infant health, too—having someone provide continuous support during labor was shown to result in a 38% decrease in the baby’s risk of a low five-minute Apgar score (Apgar scores are a common immediate postpartum assessment to assess your baby’s health). Perhaps most importantly, the support of a doula has been shown to result in a 31% decrease in the risk of being dissatisfied with your birth experience. This means that, no matter what happens physically during birth, your chance of feeling satisfied with what happened increases significantly with a highly trained, informed, and empowering doula by your side.

5. Doulas help with the transition into the “fourth trimester.”

Congratulations—your baby is here! You did it. But…now what? The first three months of a new baby’s life are often called the “fourth trimester”—a time of adjustment and growth that can be as intense, if not more so, than the experience of pregnancy and birth. You may find yourself overwhelmed by a wide range of emotions when faced with the new reality of life with a newborn. Or, if this is not your first baby, you may find the transition to life with more than one child to be challenging for your whole family. Your birth doula will visit you after your baby is born and help you process those emotions, give you evidence-based information on baby care to help inform your decision-making, and generally support you as you transition into this next wonderful and challenging stage. They will also make sure you have all the resources and referrals you need to be supported as you move forward. And, if you find you want more regular emotional and physical support, many birth doulas also offer ongoing postpartum services that can extend through the first months of your baby’s life and beyond.

The bottom line? Your doula is there for you when you need her throughout pregnancy, birth, the postpartum period, and as your children grow up. Our motto at Midwest Doulas is, “Once your doula, always your doula.” When you hire a doula, you’re making an investment in the wellbeing of your entire family.

Justine Temke is the founder of Midwest Doulas. She was born and raised in France, and that unique worldview drives her passion to educate and support women. She loves to share her knowledge of pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding and strives to empower women and their families by providing compassionate support during and after pregnancy. Midwest Doulas was the winner of “Best of the Twin Cities” at the 2018 Birth & Baby Expo.

Article first published 4/25/2019 on the Minnesota Birth Center Blog.

05/03/2019
Top 5 reasons to hire a Sibling Doula

You probably think of a doula as someone who supports women and their partners during childbirth. You may also be familiar with postpartum doulas—experienced professionals who support new moms and dads after a baby is born. But have you ever heard of a sibling doula? Older siblings’ lives change dramatically when a baby is born. Sibling doulas do what birth and postpartum doulas do, but with a focus on the needs of older siblings whose parents are bringing a new life into the world. If you are expecting a baby and you already have an older child or children, here are five reasons to hire a sibling doula for your birth:

1. Sibling doulas understand kids.

Sibling doulas see pregnancy and birth through the eyes of a child. When I arrive for a sibling doula shift, my attention is tuned first and foremost to the child or children preparing for the birth of a new sibling. I know they need me to be calm, nurturing, friendly, and in charge. Kids are smart little people, and they’re highly sensitive to the emotional world of adults. Sibling doulas balance kids’ need to feel safe and secure in their routines with their need to process emotions in developmentally appropriate ways. Depending on the age of the child, this could look like observing and talking about the baby’s room or clothes, drawing a picture of the new baby or a picture for mom and dad, or talking earnestly about their expectations, hopes, and fears. Sibling doulas can also recommend age-appropriate books about becoming an older sibling.

2. Sibling doulas understand parents.

We’re there for your kids, but we’re also there for you. As a sibling doula, I understand that the question of who will care for your kids while you give birth is far more than logistical—it’s highly emotional, too. My job is to help you navigate those emotions, becoming a bridge between you and your older children while you focus on birthing your newest addition. This looks different for different families. Sibling doulas are experts at reading parents’ cues and adjusting their communication as we go.

3. Sibling doulas understand birth.

We know birth is unpredictable and we organize ourselves accordingly. As a sibling doula, I’ve had shifts that are six hours long and shifts that are 36 hours long. When we show up, we start the routine and we don’t stop until a parent, family member, or other caregiver is ready to come and take over. We have a few tricks up our sleeve, too! While playing at home might work for a few hours, a special outing or activity might be exactly what everyone needs if Mom and Dad have been at the hospital since yesterday morning. As doulas, we know how to hang on for the long haul, and we come prepared.

4. A sibling doula can stick around.

Most sibling doulas also work as postpartum doulas. Because one of the main things families need when they bring home a new baby is help with older children, it can be helpful to hire a postpartum doula who already knows your children and has spent time in your home. One of my favorite parts of sibling doula work is coming back for a postpartum shift, seeing kids I’ve grown to love, and helping the entire family unit adjust to its new shape and size.

5. You deserve a sibling doula.

The birth of your children is something you’ll never forget. Whether you are birthing at a hospital, at a birth center, or at home, you deserve to be physically and emotionally free to focus on the hard work you are doing to bring a new life into the world. A sibling doula will seamlessly integrate into your family, helping your children stay calm in their routine, process what’s happening, and feel special. And when you reunite, you’ll all be better positioned to thrive as a new, expanded family.

01/25/2019
What is a doula?
Removing the mystery around pregnancy support.

When we tell people we’re doulas, we’re often met with strange looks followed by a lot of questions. We’re often confused with midwives or other health care professionals who deliver babies. But, in reality, our job is focused on educating and supporting the expecting family throughout the childbirth process, not delivering the baby itself.

In the years since we founded Midwest Doulas in St. Paul, there’s been more mainstream attention given to the role doulas play in the birthing process. Still, there are misconceptions in this specialized area of pregnancy support:
- No, we’re not midwives.
- No, we’re not all hippy, granola eaters with an all-natural approach to everyday living.
- No, we don’t have a problem with modern medicine.
- And, no, we aren’t here to remove your partner from the birthing process.
What we ARE here for is to provide non-judgmental support families need during pregnancy to create exceptional birth and postpartum experiences!

We were honored to sit down with Taylor Pittman at the Huffington Post to help dispel the mystery around our jobs. As Justine told Taylor,

What we are here for is to make sure you feel empowered to make your own decisions, and that’s essential.

Keep reading to learn more about What Doulas Really Wish You Knew About Their Jobs.
12/17/2018