Good news came this week for Oregon moms who wish to use their placentas for postpartum recovery. The Oregon Senate approved a bill allowing mothers to take their baby’s placentas home, despite the state law labeling placentas as medical waste.
“The state Senate unanimously approved the bill Monday, as the House did in March. The bill [...]

The birth world was abuzz this week with the release of a recent review of birth center outcomes by the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health.  The study followed more than 15,000 moms-to-be who were planning to give birth within a midwife-run birth center.
The conclusion of the review showed birth centers to be a safe [...]

The placenta, the organ responsible for for nourishing your baby and regulating maternal-fetal interactions, may be a contributing factor in a child’s autism diagnosis.
“There is increasing evidence implicating the placenta in autism risk. For example, abnormal inclusions of trophoblasts, the cells that comprise the placenta, are found more frequently in placentas from [...]

The three U.S. midwifery organizations, MANA, ACNM, and NACPM, recently came together to make a joint statement regarding the support of normal, physiological childbirth.  In 1996, The WHO called for the elimination of all unnecessary interventions in childbirth, yet as you know, some of these interventions are being overused in our maternity health system, often [...]

A new policy at Miami Valley Hospital’s Berry Birthing Center in Ohio is requiring new mothers to wait 72 hours before their baby’s placenta will be released.  The new policy was established by request of the pathology department as a precaution in case the placenta needs to be studied in response to illness of the [...]

Babies are born covered in a thick, white, cheese-like substance called vernix caseosa.  In the hospital it is typical for babies to be bathed immediately to remove the vernix.  However, an immediate postnatal bath may not be the best option for a baby and should be reconsidered.
Vernix Caseosa has many benefits.  Produced during the third [...]

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
A new mother should be enjoying the precious moments following birth. A new mother should be taking in the sweet smells of her new baby, bonding, and, most importantly, [...]

For new mothers who find they are in the grips of postpartum depression, the decision to get inpatient treatment can be a lot to bear.  Because psychiatric inpatient units do not typically allow babies, some new mothers experience overwhelming guilt associated with leaving their new baby.  For moms who are breastfeeding, the decision [...]

You are in the final moments; you’ve worked so hard, come so far. Your body urges you to push. You bear down, giving it your all; and, alas, you have delivered your precious baby. You soar with excitement and, in an instant, a profound relationship is born.
What happens next is the third stage of [...]

I was interviewed a while back for an article that has just been published in the New York Magazine. It’s a very good article, one of the best ones I’ve read recently. I like it because it puts a very personal touch on the concept of placenta encapsulation.
Of course, Mark Kristal, my favorite placentophagia [...]