Ask The Placenta Lady is a show about the birth year. Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery – no question is too strange for The Placenta Lady!
Our question for this episode is: “I’m planning a Cesarean birth. Can I still encapsulate the placenta?”
Joining us today is Kellyann Battista, of Mind, Body & Spirit Birth and Beyond. Many people deliver their babies via Cesarean birth, and we discuss how that has no impact on whether or not that person can use the placenta for their postpartum recovery. As a mother who has had a Cesarean birth, followed by two VBACs (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), Kellyann shares some suggestions for what to tell your birth team.
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Full Transcript:
Hi, welcome to another episode of Ask the Placenta Lady. My name is Jodi but I’m more commonly known as the Placenta Lady. I’ve been working with new moms since 2006, so I’ve heard pretty much every question you can be asked regarding the birth year, which is pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum recovery. So our tagline is “no question is too strange for the Placenta Lady”, because it’s true! I’ve heard it all.
Joining me today is Kellyann Battista. Kellyann is a PBi Placenta Encapsulation Specialist® from upstate South Carolina. Welcome to the show today, Kellyann.
Thanks for having me, Jodi. I appreciate it.
Tell us a little bit about your work, Kellyann.
Hi, my name is Kellyann Battista and my business name is called Mind, Body & Spirit Birth and Beyond. And I’ve had a passion for mom and babies forever. I’m currently doing massage and focusing on prenatal and postnatal massage, along with baby massage. I’m also a birth and postpartum doula, doing encapsulation for about five years. And I really love my job.
[Jodi] : That’s awesome Kellyann. I’m really excited to have you on our show today.
Our question for this episode is, “I’m planning a Cesarean birth. Can I still encapsulate the placenta?” Now this is a question I do get frequently. And the answer is absolutely, you can still use the placenta.
You can encapsulate the placenta whether the Cesarean birth is planned, or many times if the Cesarean birth is unplanned. The mode of delivery does not in any way impact whether or not you can use the placenta for your postpartum recovery. So absolutely, if you are planning a Cesarean birth or you end up with a Cesarean delivery, you can still use the placenta. We can take the placenta and encapsulate it using the PBi method of placenta encapsulation.
Kellyann, did you have anything that you would like to share or add on to that?
[Kellyann] : I always suggest speaking with a healthcare provider, your doula, your birth team, letting them know what you want to do and your wishes in encapsulation. Because sometimes the provider by nature does what he normally or she normally does – which is maybe Betadine, or formaldehyde put on it after. So if you don’t clearly state that you want it, they don’t understand that, and they do what they normally would do with any Cesarean section.
I also believe that encapsulation has helped so many with C-sections just to create a bond between mom and baby. Because sometimes moms believe that they failed at what they were supposed to do, or didn’t accomplish what they really wanted to do regarding their birth. But when you have a healthy placenta, that makes them feel much more confident, thinking they did something right. And I see a lot of that going on, feeling like oh, I did something right regarding my placenta.
I’ve also seen them have less pain and better lactation after their babies which creates an awesome bond for them. And we all know, when mom’s happy the whole house is happy!
[Jodi] : That is so true. And you bring up so many really great points. Now, do you care to share a little bit about your personal story? Because you did have a Cesarean delivery as well. So you’re kind of speaking from experience here, yes?
[Kellyann] : Correct, I did. My first birth was a Cesarean section. And I did have some issues and I know that some of the struggles that moms have after a C-section. So definitely encapsulation has helped many.
Support and Resources – ICAN
[Jodi] : I would also like to make sure that our listeners or viewers are aware that we have a great resource, which is called ICAN, The International Cesarean Awareness Network. They have some really great resources and local support. It’s international so wherever you are, if you did have a Cesarean delivery, and you would like to have some additional support or resources during your recovery or processing the birth, that is a great resource that you can reach out to.
Thank you for being on the show today, Kellyann. If somebody wants to get a hold of you, what is the best contact information for you?
[Kellyann] : I have a Facebook page called Mind Body & Spirit Birth and Beyond. You can reach me there. Or my email is : mind body and (spelled out A-N-D) spirit healing at yahoo dot com.
[Jodi] : Thank you so much for being on the show today, Kellyann.
[Kellyann] : Thank you for having me Jodi. It’s been a pleasure.
Thank you for tuning in for this episode of Ask the Placenta Lady. Where no question is too strange for the Placenta Lady! Find us at Ask the Placenta Lady.com. You’ll find other episodes, transcripts, and also you can submit a question to us via a form that’s right there on that page.
If you’re interested in placenta encapsulation in your area, we have a great provider directory – PBi is international, so wherever you are in the world, there is likely that we have a PBi Placenta Encapsulation Specialist® ready to take care of you in your postpartum recovery. An easy URL for that is just placenta.directory. There’s no dot com or anything like that, it’s just a real quick easy way and you can go right there and you can put in your country, your state, your area and you can find a PBi Placenta Encapsulation Specialist® there.
We’re also on Facebook at Placenta Benefits. I’m on Twitter @PlacentaLady. And Instagram @PlacentaBenefits. Thank you so much.
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