HOSPITAL PLACENTA RELEASE
Most hospitals are accustomed to placenta encapsulation and have an official release form for you to sign called "Authorisation of the Release of Human Tissue to a Patient or Next of Kin". Once that paperwork is done, it’s no problem to take over care of your placenta. That being said, you should mention to your provider and/or midwife well in advance that you plan to utilise your placenta for consumption so it can be handled correctly after the birth and include it in your birth plan.
Placentas for consumption should be treated just as you would fresh, raw meat and should be placed in your cooler as soon as possible within 1-2 hours of birth. However, the placenta should not be stored in a fridge where food is kept and cannot be stored in the maternity wards or any hospital fridge.
WHAT TO DO AFTER YOUR PLACENTA HAS BEEN DELIVERED AND DELAYED CORD CLAMPING HAS BEEN COMPLETED/THE CORD HAS BEEN CUT
If no pathology examination is required, the placenta will need to be double bagged and then placed in a clearly labelled, leak-proof and sealed esky with ice blocks (provided to you by Dulcie Lane) within 1-2 hours of birth.
The staff at the hospital will bag it for you.
1
Sign the release form.
2
Sealed in the esky, the container must not be re-opened on hospital premises and must be kept cold until refrigerated at my home or preparation begins. The ice blocks must be replaced in order to keep the placenta cool if they begin to warm, especially for births that occur at night where pickup may be delayed. Half the supplied ice blocks must be kept in the maternity ward freezer for change over when the other half become warm and vice versa.
Ask the staff for a few bags of ice from the ward ice machine if needed.
3
As the placenta will rapidly deteriorate, it needs to be refrigerated as soon as possible within 4 hours following birth and should be stored in its container in your cooler until you contact me for pickup or deliver it to me.
4
Contact me at your earliest convenience for me to come and collect.
Ensure the placenta is correctly stored as above and in your cooler with ice bricks prior to me arriving for easy non contaminated transportation.
5
IF I AM
UNABLE TO
COLLECT
or you are unable to deliver to me, the placenta
MUST BE FROZEN 48 hours after the birth to
ensure it is kept fresh for encapsulation
