Tag: Postpartum depression

When I was pregnant with our second daughter, my husband and I attended a birthing class.

With my first daughter, I suffered from severe depression both during and after my pregnancy. It was an extremely difficult time in my life and a decade ago, postpartum depression was not given the weight it is now. Additionally, there’s just a stigma that surrounds mental health issues of any kind, which (ironically) makes me really sad.

So you can imagine how well I did when the birthing instructor started telling women how beautiful labor and delivery was and how you would want to spend every waking second with your precious bundle of joy, from the minute he left the womb until he matriculated from high school.

When she first said this, I spoke up. I brought up how, it’s actually really difficult to want to spend time with your new baby when he’s been screaming all night because he’s colicky and you’re sleep deprived with an influx of hormones. And I told her I thought it was wrong that such an expectation was set up for new mothers. Read more…

Worried about postpartum depression? Don’t want to take drugs? Try your placenta. Apparently there are postpartum doulas who can process your placenta into placenta pills (shown above). Thank God, because when I read about this at first I had visions of a fillet of placenta, sautéed up with onions and peppers. Eeeeww.

The practice of eating one’s placenta is called placentophagy. Because of its high content of progesterone and numerous vitamins and minerals, the placenta is thought to be quite effective in warding off postpartum depression, helps the uterus shrink back to normal size and stimulates milk production. In fact most mammals eat their placenta, including primates but not many humans. Maybe it’s time to start?

But still…placenta recipes? Oh they are out there. But, to me the pill sounds like such a better way to go. One question…what about the inevitable burp after – you know, like with fish oil pills or some vitamins? Yuck!

photo credit: danoxster