Prolapsed Uterus

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Prolapsed Uterus - Causes, Symptoms And Home Remedies For The Prolapse Uterus

Prolapse of the uterus refers to the downward displacement of the vagina and uterus. The word prolapse is derived from the latin procidere which means with effect to fall.The uterus is held in position by adequate ligaments. Besides, it has the support of the muscular structures of vagina and all other local tissues and muscles. Due to the laxity of support by muscles, tissues and ligaments, the uterus sags downwards.

Symptoms of the prolapsed uterus.

A woman suffering from prolapse of the uterus feels that something is coming down through the vagina. She feels a sense of fullness in the region of the bladder and rectum. Other symptoms include dragging discomfort in the lower abdomen, low backache, heavy menses and mild vaginal discharge. There is also an increase in the frequency of urination and the patient feels difficulty in total emptying of the bladder. There may also be a burning sensation due to infection. The woman may experience difficulty in passing stools and complete evacuation of bowels. These symptoms become more pronounced before and during menstruation. The condition may also result in difficulty in normal sexual intercourse and sometimes sterility.

Causes of the prolapsed uterus.

There are several factors which contribute to the displacement of the uterus. These include continuous distension of the intestines with gas or excess food materials. leading to constant downward pressure on the womb, chronic constipation. leading to pressure from behind from an over filled colon. tight clothing especially tight corsets, constant stooping, and a weakened condition of the internal muscles of the abdomen, through lack of exercise and bodily weakness.Some of the other important factors responsible for prolapse of the uterus are prolonged labour, and interference in the delivery by inexpert people, lack of proper rest and diet in Postnatal periods, repeated deliveries and manual work. An increased weight of the womb, tumours of the uterus, traction of the uterus and surgical injuries can also lead to this disorder. Menopausal atrophy may also precipitate it.

Prevention tips for the prolapsed uterus.

It is easier to prevent prolapse of the uterus than cure it after its occurrence. The measures to prevent it should include good antenatal care in pregnancy, proper management and timely intervention during delivery, good postnatal care with proper rest, correct diet and appropriate exercise so as to strengthen the pelvic musculature.

Natural home remedies for the treatment of the prolapsed uterus.

Treatment for a displaced womb must consist mainly of a suitable diet and exercise. The diet should be so planned as should aim at building up the internal musculature of the body. Of course, any tendency towards tight lacing, constant stooping, and heavy lifting must be carefully guarded against, once a natural regime is undertaken, as these will automatically tend to hold up the success of the treatment.To begin with the patient should adopt an all fruit diet for about five days. During this period she should take three meals consisting of juicy fruits such as orange, apple, pineapple, grapes at five hourly intervals. The bowel should be cleansed daily with a warm water enema.After the all-fruit diet, the patient should gradually embark upon a well balanced diet based on three basic food groups, namely:-

1. seed, nuts and grains.
2. vegetables and fruits.

The all-fruit diet should be repeated for three days at monthly intervals till the condition improves. Here are some home remedies for the prolapsed uterus.

• Carrots have proved useful in the treatment of prolapse of the uterus. For prolapse of the uterus, pulped carrot should be placed in a muslin bag and inserted in the vagina. This should be kept for some time, using fresh carrots every twelve hours. This will heal and strengthen the parts and help greatly in preventing any further disorders in the female reproductive system.
• A hot Epsom salts bath is also beneficial in the treatment of prolapse of the uterus and should be undertaken twice a week. This bath is prepared by dissolving one or one and a half kg. of Epsom salts in an ordinary bath of hot water. The patient should remain immersed in the bath from ten to twenty minutes. This bath should be taken just before retiring to bed, and care should be exercised not to get chilled afterwards. No soaps should be used with the bath as it will interfere with its beneficial effects. The alternate hot and cold hip bath are also useful and should be undertaken at night on alternate days.
• Exercises to strengthen the pelvic musculature are extremely useful in the treatment of prolapse of the uterus. Lying on a couch with the legs raised higher than the rest of the body is very helpful in relieving pain and discomfort from a displaced womb. This should be done from half an hour to an hour two or three times daily. The feet should be raised about eighteen inches by placing cushions under them. When this is not possible, the patient can sit on a chair with the feet on another chair. The more this can be done during the day, the better will it be in every way. The patient should also perform other exercises aimed at strengthening the abdominal muscles. These exercises will help greatly in correcting the displacement of the uterus.

Women should always take precautions to space out their children so as to prevent repeated successive deliveries. This will allow the genital tissues to regain their strength and vitality and thereby prevent prolapse of the uterus.

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What are the different types of prolapse?

• Cystocele (or Bladder Prolapse) - When the wall between the bladder and vagina weakens, the bladder can fall down into the vaginal cavity.
• Uterine (or Vaginal) Prolapse - The uterine wall slides down into the vagina.
• Rectocele - When part of the rectal wall protrudes into the vagina.
• Enterocele - A small bowel may also herniate into the vaginal wall. This usually occurs in women who have had a hysterectomy.

How is prolapse treated?
There are a number of ways to treat prolapse. Your health care provider will work with you to figure out which way(s) is best for you. Treatments include:
Avoid constipation and straining during bowel movements.
Use Kegel exercises to strengthen the muscles that support the pelvic organs - Kegel exercises help to strengthen the muscles that support the vagina, uterus, bladder, and rectum. Greater support can be helpful in several ways:

• Prolapse may disappear or be less pronounced.
• Kegels can help improve stress incontinence, the unwanted leakage of urine that occurs with coughing, sneezing, lifting, and standing.
• Sexual enjoyment may increase.
• Pregnancy may be easier.

Use biofeedback therapy to retrain your pelvic muscles - Biofeedback is a learning process where you become more aware of and more able to control your own body’s functioning. In urology and gynecology, biofeedback is typically used to help patients locate and strengthen their pelvic floor pubococcygeus (PC) muscle.
During biofeedback therapy, special measuring devices are placed in your vagina, rectum, or on your skin to monitor your pelvic floor. You are then asked to contract your PC muscle while watching the strength of each contraction on a computer screen. This interactive approach allows you to adjust each squeeze to make it stronger and more effective.
Wear a pessary inside the vaginal canal to support the prolapsed tissue - A pessary is a ring-like device that can be placed in the vagina to support structures such as the uterus or bladder. Some women find that wearing a pessary can help alleviate the discomfort caused by pelvic organ prolapse. They may also find that they have better bladder control and less urinary incontinence.
A urologist can almost always fit a patient with a pessary in one office visit. Pessaries come in various sizes, so it is important to find one that provides good support but also feels comfortable to the patient. Once a month, patients either remove their pessaries themselves or have their pessary removed by a physician. The pessary is then thoroughly cleaned and reinserted.
Add a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medication or topical cream - Evidence has clearly demonstrated that estrogen can make skin thicker, softer, and smoother. It can also “plump up” the pelvic floor tissues and help women sustain their vaginal moistness. 
Surgery can restore your prolapsed pelvic tissues to their normal position. The decision to have prolapse surgery is an important one that should be made only after receiving all the options and facts from your physician. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide when your quality of life could be improved with surgery.





http://www.babycenter.com/400_do-you-have-a-vaginal-prolapse-after-childbirth_2300468_279.bc

i was informed i had a prolapsed uterus when i had my first child nine years ago the doctor said they could insert a plate to hold it up and help the tendons shrink to the right size. i did not have it done i have had 3 more vaginal deliveries without a problem all deliveries were fast easy and around the 7 lb mark two years ago i had my 5th child by c-section for an unrelated reason now 19 weeks into number 6 and my prolapse has been being a large problem what it is doing is pushing my bladder out if it starts do detach they will have to take the baby no matter how far along i am and i now haw no choice i have to have a hysterectomy after the baby gets here. a lot of the other comments on this topic are from younger ladies i urge you to have it fixed without a hysterectomy before you loose your choice too i am not yet 30 and will probably start menopause within the next 6 months.



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Displacements And Their Correction

( Originally Published 1918 )









BECAUSE of the elasticity of the supporting structures, the female pelvic organs are quite mobile, and therefore very subject to displacement. This is true not only of the uterus, but of the ovaries as well, and very often there is an accompanying displacement of the abdominal viscera also. A very large percentage of the cases examined in gynecological clinics show some degree of uterine malposition.The uterus may be displaced forward or backward, upward or downward, or to either side, but only two of these are of any great consequence, viz. backward displacement, or retroversion and downward displacement, or prolapsus. You probably know of retroversion as "tipping of the womb," and of prolapsus as "falling of the womb."The normal position of the uterus varies ac-cording to the center of gravity of the body, and the physiological state of the neighboring organs. While lying on the back the tendency is for the fundus or upper part of the uterus to fall back-ward towards the sacrum ; if you are lying face downward, it tends to fall forwards; if on either side, towards the side upon which you are lying; in the standing position it sinks slightly in the pelvis. It also has an upward movement. The full bladder raises the body of the uterus and tends to throw it backward, while the alternate filling and emptying of the rectum also produces some change in position. It may be said, however, that the general position of the uterus is with its fundus tipped forward and the cervix directed backward, the cervical canal being at right angles to the long axis of the vagina.Although the uterus may ,be abnormally anteverted, this is of no very great importance unless it is flexed, or bent on itself, at the same time, thus causing menstrual disturbances. Lateral displacements are of no consequence.CAUSES OF UTERINE DISPLACEMENT.—Acquired malpositions of the uterus of whatever character are all practically due to the same causes. Tell me that you have "falling' of the womb" and I can describe your general condition of health quite accurately, and also your habits of living. You have been since girlhood disinclined to activity, and as a consequence your muscles are weak and flabby, especially those of your abdomen, which may be in a stretched and sagging condition. You have also been a fairly heavy eater and suffer from constipation. You are either very lean, or inclined to be very stout. To keep your figure "trim" you wear corsets which you put on while standing up, thus forcing the abdominal contents downwards.Among other causes are heavy lifting, active exercise, such as jumping, dancing, and running when in an untrained condition (these are beneficial when the woman is in condition for such exercise) ; relaxation of the pelvic floor following lacerations in childbirth; habitual constipation, or constant distension of the bladder; the presence of pelvic or abdominal tumors.One potent cause is getting up too soon after childbirth. At this time the uterus is heavy and its supports stretched and relaxed, and if the woman gets on her feet and does too much moving about before complete involution, or return of the uterus to normal, has taken place, a retrodisplacement, or prolapsus, may subsequently occur. Although some consider it a sign of superior strength and vitality that savage women, and certain women of the laboring class, go about their work immediately after giving birth to a child, in reality this must sometimes be considered their misfortune, as it is well known that displacements of the uterus are very common among these women, many of whom are chronically overworked and have a very poor posture in any case.Symptoms of Retroversion.—A certain degree of displacement is possible without symptoms, but when there is a decided retroversion the patient may suffer considerably.You may have been feeling in the best of health, but now you notice that you are not as vigorous as formerly. You tire easily—in fact feel tired all the time. Your sleep and rest do not refresh you. There is a dragging feeling in the pelvic region and at times an intense pain, or an ache, in the sacral region. Your menses are unduly protracted and you have pain at this time. You are constipated and have frequent urination. If there is pregnancy, a miscarriage may follow.Symptoms of Prolapsus.— Prolapse, or "falling of the womb," may be a slight or pronounced descent into the vagina, or the entire uterus may even appear outside of the vulva, carrying the vaginal walls down with it. In other cases it is simply an elongation of the cervix. Prolapsus is practically a more advanced stage of retroversion. The uterus sinks gradually into the vagina until the cervix appears at the orifice. If the tissues here are relaxed, the entire uterus is soon outside the vagina. Up to this time you will suffer greatly from the continual dragging sensation incident to the stretching of the ligaments. This discomfort ceases when full descent has occurred, and the only distress is the sense of a foreign body between the thighs. The vaginal wall covering the uterus gradually becomes dry and hardened, resembling skin, or it may become eroded and ulcerated.Treatment of Uterine Displacements. — If there are no symptoms and the condition is discovered in examination, you should not worry about it, as no treatment is necessary, unless you are married and you think the displacement is preventing you from becoming pregnant. If you have decided symptoms, however, and the trouble is undermining your health, it must be at-tended to before a more advanced stage is reached.In many cases the uterus must be put back into position by manual means. This, however, is not of much use unless it can be kept there. For this purpose the vagina is sometimes packed with gauze or pledgets of cotton, but these must be removed in twenty-four hours and are there-fore not very effective. The pessary is often used and this is more practical, and is useful temporarily when the woman is obliged to be on her feet continually, and some relief is necessary. The pessary is often the cause of inflammation and leucorrhea, and ulceration may occur from pressure. Therefore it should not be worn continually, and other treatment should be undertaken with the idea of discarding the pessary as soon as possible. Frequent douches are necessary during the time the pessary is used, and these, too, are objectionable. The pessary, therefore, should only be used when absolutely necessaryBefore any permanent cure can be expected the tone of the entire muscular system must be improved. Some system of exercise which uses every muscle should be adopted. The effect of exercises is not alone on the voluntary muscles ; the involuntary muscles and the ligaments also are nourished and toned up by the increased circulation. We know of various cases where nothing of a local nature was done, and with general exercise alone the condition was corrected. Of course if the uterus is bound down by adhesions, it can not be restored to position until these are broken up or stretched by manual means.In some cases, and especially if there is complete prolapse, the services of a physician are necessary in replacing the uterus. However, there are certain positions which may be assumed by the patient herself that will cause the uterus to return to its proper place. For instance the knee-chest position may be taken. Kneel down on the bed, or other comfortable soft surface. With head forward and chin on chest bend far forward until the chest and abdomen bear heavily on the legs. It will readily be seen that in this position the tendency is for the uterus to fall for-ward to its normal position. You should take this position several times daily for from five to ten minutes at a time. While in this position place the fingers of both hands on the "small of the back," and then attempt to harden or flex these muscles. You may secure a result not unlike the sensation of "straining at stool," which will indicate that the exercise is taken correctly. Repeat until the muscles tire.The knee-chest position is hard for some women to assume and for such the slanting table is useful. This is a table one end of which is at least a foot lower than the other. A carpenter will make it for you, or any one in the home who is handy with tools can easily do it. Or you can elevate one end of a couch for the purpose. The ironing board, or any other board two feet wide and five or six feet long, may be used, by placing one end on a chair or the window sill. The patient lies on this, either on the back, or face down, with the head at the lower end. For retroversion face down. You may lie quiet on this table for ten minutes to an hour at a time, several times daily, or certain exercises may also be taken on it. For instance the legs may be raised alternately upward. The body may be raised by straightening the arms, and then lowered. The legs may be alternately moved outward. After a time exercises may be taken while lying on either side and also upon the back, such as moving, the legs to the side and up-ward, alternately and together. All of these exercises will develop the muscles of the abdominal and pelvic region, which is very important.Another very valuable exercise is to contract the muscles of the anus and the constrictor muscles of the urinal canal—in plainer terms the muscles that are used in urinating and in defecating. Make it a point to contract these muscles a number of times while on the slanting table. They can also be exercised advantageously while lying in bed.After taking the exercises it is well to lie quiet, face downward, for a few minutes before getting off the table. This is the most important part of the whole treatment, and we know of many cases which have been benefitted. Sleeping chest downward is also of value.The use of the cold sitz bath will tend to bring the blood to the pelvic region and thus tone up the muscles and ligaments. This should be taken daily, for from one to four minutes, according to the temperature of the water, being discontinued of course, during the menses. If there is inflammation use the hot sitz.In case of complete prolapse, or "falling," after replacement of the uterus, the woman should go to bed for several days, remaining most of the time in the prone position. Large pledgets of cotton attached to a string may be introduced into the vagina to prevent the uterus from descending again. These must be changed daily. If the woman is not obliged to work, or be on her feet for a considerable part of her time, we would advise the avoidance of pessaries, or supports of any kind, the exercises mentioned being relied upon for the relief of the trouble. If one continues in bed for any length of time, it is especially important to take the reclining exercises mentioned, including all possible leg movements for strengthening the abdominal region.

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Why Schools Are What They Are II: Forces Against Fundamental Change

Why educational reform must occur outside the school system.Published on August 27, 2008 by Peter Gray in Freedom to Learn
In previous postings I have presented evidence supporting the following claims: (1) Children's instincts to play and explore on their own provided the foundation for education during our long history as hunter-gatherers (August 2 posting). (2) Children today can and do educate themselves very well, without coercion or adult prodding or direction, if they are provided with an environment that supports their instincts to play and explore (August 13 posting). (3) Conventional schools are what they are today because of historical circumstances that led people to devalue play, believe that children's willfulness must be broken, and believe that everything useful, including learning, requires toil (August 20 posting).

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Today, many people understand the educative value of free play and exploration, regret that children are provided relatively little opportunity for such activities, and believe that children's willfulness is a positive force for their development, education, and enjoyment of life. Yet schools continue on, as before. In fact, conventional schooling and other adult-led activities modeled after such schooling occupy an ever-growing percentage of our children's time. Why is it so difficult to reverse this trend? Why is it so difficult to institute fundamental changes within the school system? I don't pretend to know the full answer to this question, but here is an outline of my thoughts concerning the forces that make the educational system so difficult to change in a fundamental manner.
The Normality of Conventional Schooling
As social psychologists frequently point out, people will go to amazing lengths to appear normal. If we behave differently from the norm, others may reject us, and nothing is worse for us as social beings than rejection. If everyone in a culture binds girls' feet, essentially crippling them, then even parents who don't believe in that practice do it, so their daughters won't look weird. If all of the children in the neighborhood go to a conventional school, then the child who does something quite different from that may be seen as weird, and the parents may be seen as not only weird but negligent.
As one piece of evidence concerning the degree to which we today identify children with their conventional schooling, listen to almost any conversation (or attempt at conversation) between an adult and a child that the adult has just met: "What grade are you in school?" "What is your favorite subject?" "Do you like your teacher?" "Are you eager for school to start?" We have to find whole new ways of talking with children who don't attend such a school.
New schools that are founded on principles very different from those of conventional schools attract relatively few students, even from among those who believe in the principles, because of the fear of doing something that looks abnormal. Children who do make a decision to attend such a school need lots of social support to counteract that fear, and their parents need even more.
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecies of Conventional Schooling
Conventional schooling has promoted ways of thinking and acting that turn its own premises into self-fulfilling prophecies. The premises appear to be true because we evaluate them within the context of conventional schooling and by criteria established by such schooling.
Here's an example of such a premise: Schools need to motivate children to learn. I have, countless times, encountered parents who believe that unconventional schools such as Sudbury Valley are fine for "self-motivated kids" but not for their kids, because their kids are "not self-motivated." And the kids themselves also often believe that. They say things like, "I need teachers who'll kick my butt, or I'll do nothing all day." Why do people in our culture have this perception that school-aged children will not learn much if left to their own devices? Almost nobody has that perception of kids younger than school age (July 23 posting), and hunter-gatherers don't have that perception of kids of any age (August 2 posting).
One reason for the perception that school-aged kids are not motivated to learn on their own comes from our culture's general acceptance of the school system's definition of learning. If learning is defined as doing school assignments or work that looks a lot like school assignments, then it is certainly true that kids who are "unschooled" or who attend Sudbury schools spend little time "learning." Instead, they spend their time playing and exploring, in unpredictable ways, and they pick up the culture's knowledge and skills as a side effect.
Another reason for the perception is that kids who spend their day at a conventional school taking tests and doing work that they don't want to do may, at the end of the day, spend their free time relaxing, kicking back, or letting off steam, much as their parents do after a stressful day at work. This interferes with the opportunity to become fully engaged in the sort of play, exploration, and conversation that we most easily identify as educational.
Another example of a self-fulfilling school prophecy is this: Good performance in school predicts subsequent success. We have made this prophecy come true by setting up a world for children in which we essentially define "success" as good performance in school. The job of children is to get good grades in school, and there are many rewards for doing so. Good grades are the criteria for advancement to the next level in the graded school system, for placement on the "honor roll," for eligibility to play sports, for getting into college, for nominations to sought-after societies, for praise from many adults, and so on. So, of course, by all these measures of success, good performance in school (as measured by grades) predicts subsequent success.
We are also constantly bombarded with statistics showing correlations between years of schooling and career success as measured by income. But there are lots of reasons for those correlations that have nothing to do with learning. Here are three such reasons:
(1) We have set up a world in which certain high-paying jobs, such as law, medicine, and business administration, commonly require a certain number of years of higher education. In such a world, years of schooling inevitably correlate with income.
(2) We have set up a world in which "success" is more or less defined as good grades during youth and as high income later on. In such a world, those people who are highly achievement motivated, by conventional standards, will work hard for high grades in school and for money in adulthood; and, voila, we have the correlation. We have also set up a world in which very few people do not attend conventional schools, so parents and children have few models that they can look to of success through any other route.
(3) Children from wealthy homes can afford more schooling than can those from poorer homes, so they obtain more schooling. Children from wealthy homes also have more opportunities for high paying jobs, because of family connections and lots of other advantages, than do those from poorer homes. This too helps create the correlation between years of schooling and subsequent income.
For these and other reasons an overall correlation between schooling and "success" is inevitable in the world we have built. There is no statistical way to know if any of that correlation has anything at all to do with what is actually learned in school.

Why Schools Are What They Are II: Forces Against Fundamental Change

Why educational reform must occur outside the school system.Published on August 27, 2008 by Peter Gray in Freedom to LearnAnother reason for the inertia that operates against real change in our educational system has to do with the massive, entrenched nature of the educational establisment. In the United States, 6.8 million people currently make their living as teachers (U.S. Census Bureau). Contrary to popular belief, teaching pays better than does the average white-collar or professional job (Greene & Winters, 2007) and offers many other benefits, including, usually, job security, excellent pension plans, and lots of vacation time. Schools of education, which prepare teachers for conventional schools, comprise a huge portion of the higher educational establishment. The textbook industry is also massive and lucrative. A radical change in our system of education would upset all of this. Such a change would abolish our need for teachers, as presently defined. It would also abolish our need for schools of education and most if not all of our need for textbooks.

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Many people in our culture have an economic interest in not just retaining but expanding conventional education. The more hours and years we require young people to go to school, the more teachers, school administrators, education professors, and textbook authors and publishers we can employ. The education business is just like every business; it is constantly trying to expand for the benefit of those who profit from it.
The education industry thrives on small changes and fads. New ideas about how to motivate children, new courses, and new ways of teaching old courses (such as the "new new new math") all provide jobs for education professors and textbook publishers. But fundamental change of the type I have been talking about in previous postings of this blog would upset everything.
Gradual Change Doesn't Work
Another barrier to the kind of change in schooling that I have been talking about is that it cannot be done gradually within a school or school system. The change requires a paradigm shift, from one in which teachers are in charge of the educational process to one in which each student is truly in charge of his or her own education. You can't do that a little at a time. As long as teachers set a curriculum, no matter how many choices they offer within that curriculum, students will see it as teachers' jobs, not theirs, to decide what to learn. As long as teachers evaluate students' progress, no matter how they do so, students will see that their job is to meet teachers' expectations, not to establish and meet their own expectations.
In fact, the addition of choices and of less clearly defined means of evaluation within the conventional schooling system can make students' lives even more stressful than before. After such "liberal" changes, it becomes each student's job to guess what it is that the teachers want them to do and to guess at the real, unspoken criteria for evaluation. School becomes an exercise in mind reading. My own belief is that within the conventional school system the most benign way to teach is to be as clear as possible about the requirements and criteria, so students can meet those requirements and criteria with minimal fear that they may be studying the wrong things.
You also can't, within the conventional school system, expect to eliminate evaluation gradually, one course at a time. Suppose you introduce into the curriculum one course in which students will not be graded. What you will find is that most students won't do anything in that course, even if they want to. In a system where other courses are graded, the ungraded course is understood as irrelevant. How can a good student justify devoting time to a course that is not graded if other courses are graded? In order to change that mindset, the whole system has to change.
How Change is Occurring
Fundamental change in education is, nevertheless, occurring outside of the traditional school system. It is occurring among groups of families who decide to "unschool" their children (that is, to home school them in a free way, where there is no curriculum or evaluation) and among people who start non-school schools, such as those modeled after the Sudbury Valley School. People in these movements establish among themselves new sets of social norms, which allow them to overcome the barriers to behaving in ways that seem abnormal to others. Their observations of children who are educating themselves lead them to perceive education in a new light, as something to admire and enjoy in children but not to control. They begin to see many examples of people who have educated themselves freely and happily, outside of the conventional school system, and have gone on to successful lives by every meaningful definition of success, and so the self-fulfilling prophesies of conventional schooling are understood for what they are.
We have no reason to be discouraged about the future of education. We just must realize that real reform is not going to occur within the established school system. It will continue to occur outside of that system. The gradual change that will occur is that more and more people will opt out of conventional schooling. To permit that to happen, we need to be sure that people have the legal right to opt out. On a political level, that should be the highest priority for those of us who look for a world in which children can develop freely and happily, with the full experience of democracy and the rights and responsibilities that democracy entails.

Placenta Encapsulation Instructions w/ Pictures

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Placenta Encapsulation Instructions w/ Pictures

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I've had several inquiries on the process of encapsulation. I figured it would be best if I made a separate post with instructions for those who plan to do it. It's really quite simple!The benefits of placenta encapsulation include:

• Decrease in baby blues and postpartum depression.
• Increase and enrich breastmilk.
• Increase in energy.
• Decrease in lochia, postpartum bleeding.
• Decrease iron deficiency.
• Decrease insomnia or sleep disorders. 
• Decreases postpartum "night sweats".

        The placenta's hormonal make-up is completely unique to the mother. No prescription, vitamin or herbal supplement can do what one placenta pill can. How amazing is that?The theory is you are replacing the hormones you lost during the birthing process. Each woman's placenta is unique to her hormonal make-up. Also the first born male placenta is the most enriched.
Supplies Needed:
Gloves
Steamer for stove top
Fresh ginger and lemon
Cutting Board, I recommend disposable cutting boards from Cut N Toss
Knife
Capsules, 150-200
Dehydrator, I use a Nesco American Harvest
Food Processor or Coffee Grinder
Sanitizer and bleach

1. First take placenta, place in colander in sink. Rinse under cold water removing and blood clots.   2. Place on cutting board and severe cord at base. It may bleed a little bit. If you prefer to to the raw method you would thinly slice the placenta after you have cleaned it. Laying the slices on dehydrator trays(or in the oven), keeping the temp below 118F to preserve maximum nutrients and keep enzymes intact.
 
Placenta Love


2. If you are steaming it on the stove, wrap placenta membrane fetal side around placenta into a ball. Place lemon & ginger in water in steamer. Put placenta in steam basket and cover. Steam on medium for about 15mins on *each side*. Bleed whiling steaming. Slice up placenta into thin strips at this point. If you are using a low oven to dehydrate your placenta, set oven to lowest temp. It takes 6-8hrs to dehydrate depending on method used.Bleeding the steamed placenta

Steamed sliced placenta. Try to keep all strips uniform in thickness and length so they dehydrate evenly. I would then cut these in half again. Slice as thinly as possible.



3. Preparing dehydrator, lining trays with wax paper for easier clean up. Place in dehydrator for about 6-8hrs.
My dehydrator, Nesco American Harvest.


Dehyrated Placenta Strips. Anyone for placenta jerky? ;O) Make sure you break this up to smaller pieces so the grind easier.

4. Using a strong grinder, grind placenta strips. I hear magic bullet works well. You may need to break dehydrate strips in half prior to grinding. I broke a coffee mill this way and had to "donate" my food processor to the cause. During the grinding process add dried herbs if desired. Per mother's request I will add one of the 3 herb blends I offer; "Mood Boost", "Iron Boost" or "Milk Boost". The blends have 3-4 herbs in them. I call placenta powder that has been blended with herbs "Power Placenta Pills", they pack a punch!  I add about 1/4 weight of herbs of the total placenta volume. A little goes a long way :O)
I would also encourage you if you to try the herbs prenatally individually to make sure you dont have any adverse reactions to them prior to adding them to your placenta powder. Otherwise you may end up wasting your placenta pills if you had herbs to them that cause an adverse reaction - that would be a bummer!

5. Fill capsules. One placenta will yield *about 125-175 capsules*. You can use The Capsule Machine or Cap M Quik, it can be done by hand. I use capsule size "00". There are smaller size capsules available. The picture to the top is just placenta powder and herbs blended together.
  The picture below is placenta powder blended with herbs.

6. Store capsules in refrigerator, they will keep indefinitely. How many to take in the PP period depends on the mother and her needs. I recommend 3 capsules twice a day for two weeks. If mom has a history of PPD I recommend 3 capsules three times a day for a full two weeks. The following week she can cut back her capsules to once a day or two capsules twice a day.If mom is feeling run down, fatigued, low supply or emotionally fragile increase dosage. You can always take more a few months down the road if you need a "pick me up".Containers they are stored in with instructions and benefits listed
7. Sanitize everything once while at mom's house. Spray with bleach solution and soak in hot water. Soak again in bleach solution and boiling water when you return home overnight and then run through dishwasher. I spray everything with a bleach solution and a Simple Green disinfectant cleaner. Make sure you spray work surface area too. You can lay out old newspapers, card board or a large garbage bag under work surface to help minimize clean up.Where to find an  "Placenta Encapsulator"placentanetwork.complacentabakery.com
Google Maps Placenta Directory
Placenta Benefits Specialists
International Directory

Also email doulas and homebirth midwives in your area to ask if they offer this service or know someone who does.

To offer Placenta Encapsulation as a service its not regulated you take a training course, belong to an organization or be listed in a directory. 
HOPE THAT HELPS!!!