S1: A listener production.
S2: Only do what we wanna know rules. Yeah. We're gonna
S2: gonna stay ish. Where do you wanna go? Where do
S2: you wanna go?
S3: Hi. Welcome to Beineix. Yes, the podcast where we don't
S3: wake up like this. No, but you are looking really,
S3: really good today, am I? Yeah. You need to trademark
S3: this hairstyle. Yeah. My, um, non-surgical brow lift. Pull back. Yeah. Every.
S3: Every day since I said to you that this is
S3: your best hairstyle yet. You've had this hairdo. I know,
S3: and I think people think I don't shower because I'm, like,
S3: keep wearing this hairstyle. So I think everyone's getting really confused.
S3: I think I need to sort of change it up
S3: a little bit. It's a good hack though, right? Dirty hair,
S3: snatched face and you look hot. It hides your extensions. Yes. Oh, actually,
S3: I'm struggling today. Oh, yeah. There's a little bit poking.
S3: Had 20 minutes to get into the studio. You're looking good, babe.
S3: You're looking good. Yes, sir. But we absolutely did not
S3: wake up like this, did we? No, we did not.
S3: We did not. But I want to talk about our
S3: birth stories. Yeah, because we've got a great guest on today.
S3: We have. And I actually don't know your birth stories.
S3: Do you not know? How do you not know my
S3: birth story? I don't know, I think because when we were.
S3: I know, I think we're just trauma. I've had too
S3: many babies. Too many. Yeah. I think every time I
S3: saw you, like I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant. I'm having a baby.
S3: And then again and then again and then again. Yes. Well,
S3: it's funny, I think, uh, with Oscar my first, who's
S3: now 13, I actually had that Hollywood movie experience where
S3: in the middle of the night, you stand up and
S3: your waters break and they gush all over the floor.
S3: It was that you had that I had that. Oh
S3: my God. Does anyone have that? No. No one. I
S3: feel like everyone's going in and getting their waters broken. Yeah,
S3: or they're overdue. So I was 39 weeks pregnant to
S3: the day. Wow. And Oscar was unplanned. He was, um.
S3: He was an okay stay, day baby had a had a, uh,
S3: at the Melbourne Cup carnival. There's a day called Oaks Day.
S3: So you go to the races. I had one too
S3: many champagnes. Got a little bit carried away. Surprise. I
S3: found out I was pregnant with Oscar the day before
S3: my hen's party. Oh. That's torture. How do you hide that? Oh, well,
S3: I had a stunt glass of champagne throughout my wedding.
S3: But how's this? So I told my besties the day
S3: before and we were planning this awesome hens. And yeah,
S3: they were so disappointed. Instead of being like, oh my God,
S3: because it's the first baby in the group. So Oscar
S3: is the first grandchild on both sides and the first baby.
S3: Out of all of my friendship groups, I think I
S3: was 27 at the time and they were all just
S3: so disappointed. No one was happy for me. They were appalled.
S3: Their jaws were on the floor like, what have you done?
S3: It's your hens party tomorrow. It's your wedding. You're an idiot. Yeah,
S3: I would have been devastated if you told me you
S3: were pregnant before you had. I'd be like, really? It
S3: was the most boring hen's party I've ever been to
S3: in my life. So, yeah. fast forward to 39 weeks.
S3: The waters broke and I got up and I'm looking.
S3: I'm like, what is this? I was having little cramps
S3: and I thought I needed to go number twos. So
S3: I stood up to walk to the toilet. In hindsight,
S3: who needs to do a poo at 2 a.m. in
S3: the morning? Yeah. No, no. No one. No. It was
S3: a cramp. It was like labor pains. And then. Yeah,
S3: the gush all over the carpet. Does it feel like
S3: you're weeing or just feels like you're leaking? Okay. Like,
S3: you know, like when you ovulate like that. Yeah. Yeah,
S3: that a lot, but a lot. And it keeps and
S3: this is the other thing. So I put on some
S3: trackies and called the Labour ward and I said, yep,
S3: come in. You're on here. So I put on I
S3: vividly remember there were these country road tracksuit pants. I
S3: popped them on and I was saving them for that day.
S3: For that day. Pop them on. Got in the car.
S3: What happens when your waters break? They do not stop breaking.
S3: It's not like you have a gush and it's done. Yeah.
S3: You keep oozing until the baby comes. Oh, yeah. So
S3: by the time I get to the hospital, my pants
S3: are soaked down to the ankles. Straight in the bin. Oh, no.
S3: So what did you walk in? Did you have, like,
S3: a backup plan to, like, walk in? Not nerdy Rudy
S3: down the bottom. No, I just walked in, like, with
S3: saturated pants. Oh, yeah. Like, it was clearly my first
S3: time doing it. No experience. So I should have put
S3: a pad in. Yeah. Yeah. Had backup pants or a
S3: towel or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he was pretty
S3: run of the mill. I had an epidural. He came out. Um,
S3: I needed a little bit of assistance. I think it
S3: was a vacuum extraction, but not too. Not too bad. Yeah.
S3: Didn't really feel much, but. God. Afterwards. The pain when
S3: the epidural wears off like full fire. Fanny. Hang on.
S3: But this is after you have the baby. Yeah. So
S3: I didn't feel anything when he was coming out. Love. Epidural.
S3: Loved it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seamless. But I'm all. I'm
S3: pro intervention. I'm like, yep. Give me that needle. Give
S3: me that treatment. Give me this. If it's going to
S3: help I'm like more is more. Just do it all. Yeah.
S3: But after it wore off, I could not sit down
S3: like I'm sitting now. I could not sit on my
S3: bottom for two weeks. I had to lie on my
S3: side and prop myself up on my elbow. So much
S3: so that my elbows were bruised. Yeah, yeah, it was like,
S3: imagine your bits on fire. It was like that for
S3: two weeks. Nah. Then by the time Billy came, my second,
S3: second one, it just flew out. It flew out? No fire, Fanny,
S3: no Panadol. Just like you know what I think? I
S3: think it's like that memory. You've thought of the worst
S3: and you've been in the worst pain, and you kind
S3: of expect it for the second time. So then when
S3: you do have the next baby, it's that pain's not
S3: there because you've expected the worst, so it's never as bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
S3: And it was fine. All your pregnancies though, like during
S3: your pregnancies were fine. Like you didn't have I was
S3: so lucky with the first two. And then. And then
S3: bom bom bom bom and then the twins. How long
S3: have we got on this episode today? I feel like
S3: this is. She's got so many a whole series. So
S3: then the twins came along. So when I went to
S3: my first check with the twins, you know, so with
S3: whenever I'm pregnant, I don't know if you're the same, Ehm,
S3: but the husband comes or the partner comes to the
S3: first scan and then you see the heartbeat, and then
S3: after that I just always go to the scans by myself.
S3: So we go into the first scan and I just
S3: felt a bit off and I had no morning sickness.
S3: I was so lucky with the older two. I had
S3: really bad morning sickness and I just, I don't know
S3: if I'm psychic or I just had this weird energy.
S3: I'm like, something is so off with this pregnancy. And
S3: I went in and I said to my obstetrician, I'm like, oh,
S3: can you just check there's not two in there? This
S3: is really weird. So I'm in there with Chris and
S3: he scans me and he has a good old look around.
S3: He goes, nah, it's only one baby. Like, phew, okay.
S3: Because this one feels different. All right, so we leave. Okay.
S3: So we're having our third baby. All good. I went
S3: back for a routine scan by myself without my husband.
S3: Four weeks later, and I'm looking at the screen as
S3: he's doing a scan, and there's, like, this blob up
S3: in the corner. And I said, what's that blob up there, Lynn?
S3: And he zoomed in on the blob, and as he
S3: zoomed in, the blob miraculously turned into a baby and
S3: it moved. And it was like a wave. Like it's
S3: like I'm gonna make your life a living hell. And
S3: it's been a living hell ever since. No. Just kidding.
S3: I'm kidding. No, just. The pregnancy was tough. It was hard. Yeah.
S3: The whole last eight years has been tough. Just kidding.
S3: I remember watching you pregnant with the twins. Oh, my God.
S3: And you were just. I remember you rocking up to school,
S3: and your tummy would be out to here on my
S3: stick legs, on your stick leg and you just struggling
S3: to move. And I remember looking at going that poor
S3: bitch like. And then you also think, are these babies
S3: like the same gestation because there's a thing called superfetation twins. Yes.
S3: Where which is what I only had with Jagger, which
S3: is I was pregnant and then got pregnant while being pregnant. What?
S3: How much sex are you having, girl? So. And then.
S3: So when I was having my 12 week scan with
S3: my third, they were like, oh my God. And this
S3: is the sonographer. I was like, what? She goes, oh,
S3: did you have really high levels of HCG? And I go, yeah, huge.
S3: I've been so sick. And they go, you've ovulated while
S3: being pregnant and then you've had sex again. Yeah, so
S3: they said we can't. So then my actual due date
S3: changed because I found out I was pregnant and then
S3: I had the scan. They couldn't do an internal because,
S3: you know, how they don't do internals in the first
S3: six weeks of your pregnancy. They like to leave it
S3: to the 12th. Yeah. So then when I went back
S3: for that scan, they went. That's when they did the
S3: internal because I was so sick. I was so sick
S3: and I wasn't with the other two. Yeah. And then
S3: she goes, oh my God, you've ovulated while being pregnant
S3: and you've got pregnant again. So they were trying to
S3: work out if Jagger was the first or the second,
S3: the second. But that changed the day by eight days.
S3: So then so was he the first or the second?
S3: He would have been the second. Oh, wow. So anyway.
S3: And they said only 14 babies in the world at
S3: this is at this time back in 2017 that have
S3: been born as superfetation twins where they've been, they've they're
S3: gestations are different. You've got pregnant twice. You've got pregnant
S3: while being pregnant with the twins. I ended up having
S3: to have an emergency caesarean with them, so I had
S3: two natural births. So I've gone through the experience of
S3: having a caesarean as well. Yeah, and gosh, that I
S3: take my hat off to you girls. That was bloody hard.
S3: So I have to say, the first you've had the three.
S3: I've had three gorgeous kids. Yeah, I've had three caesareans.
S3: And because when I was 21, I was pregnant with
S3: River and they said I had child bride, child brides, child, bride.
S3: And they said I had placenta previa. And with that
S3: you can't have a natural birth. So that's when the
S3: placenta grows over the cervix. Is that right? Yeah. It's
S3: in the way of the birth canal. So you're actually
S3: giving birth to the placenta before the baby. So back
S3: in the olden days when, you know, mothers would die. Yeah.
S3: Giving birth, it's usually because of placenta previa. So I
S3: was just so upset because I was, you know, 21.
S3: And I thought my body couldn't do what it's naturally
S3: meant to be doing. Like. And I really wanted to have, like,
S3: this natural birth and, you know, and I thought Kumbaya. Yeah.
S3: That Kumbaya. And I thought I failed. No. God, I know,
S3: and I know that now. But I remember at the
S3: time I was just like, this is the one thing
S3: that I could say I can do, and my husband can't,
S3: and I still can't. But you know what? Your husband
S3: can't have a caesarean either. No you can't. That's true,
S3: that's true. So then feed a baby and. Yeah. And
S3: grow a baby. No. That's so true. Yeah. Five minutes.
S3: That's all we need from them. And we do the rest.
S3: Five minutes. But yeah. So I ended up having a
S3: caesarean with River. So. So she's your oldest. She's 13.
S3: She's 13. Yeah. And and that's how we met. Yes.
S3: Because River and Oscar started at school together when they
S3: were three years old, and now they're teenagers. Um, and so, yes,
S3: I went in and had my caesarean. I was put
S3: on strict bedrest from 16 weeks pregnant, could not move
S3: for the entire pregnancy. I bled the whole time. Oh, wow. Yeah.
S3: It was. I fainted all the time. It was just. Yeah.
S3: And then when did you have an elective caesarean? So
S3: I had an elective caesarean. How many weeks? I was
S3: 37 weeks. They had me quite early because of the
S3: bleeding and the constant fainting. 37 weeks is a good
S3: gestation to get to. That's like really 37 weeks in
S3: four days or five days. Really good for someone who's
S3: been on bed rest for that long. Yeah. And I
S3: was so over it. So then had River. Even that
S3: was a bit traumatic, I think, cause I was so young,
S3: I didn't know what to expect. It was fine. Yeah.
S3: And then Scarlet was. I just kept fainting with her.
S3: The pregnancy just fainted. And Scarlet. No, ten. Now ten.
S3: She's ten. And so hers was actually quite textbook caesarean.
S3: Had a caesarean with her because I had borderline at
S3: this point pre-eclampsia okay. And then I was like super
S3: unwell the whole pregnancy. I was like on Zofran I
S3: had bloody those patches. Oh you did I remember you
S3: had I was like, what are these, those weird things,
S3: those weird things that you have for boat sickness and
S3: all that. Did you ever, ever eat your placenta? What? No.
S3: Like a full. It's a trend. Everyone does it. No
S3: it's not. You never, like tried? No. Never thought about it? No. Well,
S3: the Kardashians did it. Did they? Yeah, they all did it.
S3: Did you do it? I did it. What? I did it. Yep,
S3: I did it. Yeah, well, so, River, I was really young,
S3: and we actually took the placenta home and buried it
S3: under the lemon tree. No way. I didn't understand the
S3: whole encapsulation thing. Okay, so you just got the placenta planted,
S3: and we just planted it. And did the lemon tree
S3: just go bloom and grow and flourished? Look at it.
S3: It's still growing. 13 years later. And look at all
S3: the lemons. Um, bring some lemons back with the other kids,
S3: and you do it again. So with River, I had
S3: really severe post-natal depression. Like, really bad. And so when
S3: I had my second Scarlet, I was like, I'm going
S3: to do everything opposite to how I had River. So
S3: I thought I heard that, you know, eating your placenta
S3: could help with really severe post-natal depression. So I gave
S3: it a go and I didn't lose as much hair.
S3: My iron was, you know, normal and you didn't get
S3: post-natal depression. Didn't get post-natal depression. But I don't know
S3: if it's like mind over matter thinking taking something like
S3: a placebo. It was going to make it work. It
S3: was that kind of. Yeah. Interesting. The brain is just
S3: so strong. Oh, you know, you absolutely trick yourself. Yeah. Constantly.
S3: Like on how you can feel and all that. So
S3: I think that was that journey I took. So let's
S3: bring in Anna Papadakis from opening to life because she
S3: encapsulates placentas. So we can ask her all the questions
S3: about how it's done and what the benefits are. So welcome. Anna.
S2: Bain. Ish.
S3: Welcome, Anna to varnish. Tell us about your profession and
S3: your qualifications.
S4: I've been in the birth world since my twin boys
S4: were born, so they were not one yet when I
S4: started doula training.
S3: Yeah. Wow.
S4: So I became very. I always kind of have a
S4: corporate background and but also a spiritual sort of seeker
S4: kind of side bent. My friend was having a doula.
S4: I'm like, oh, you have a doula, you've got your
S4: personal hairdresser and your this and your that. But we
S4: had a little gathering, like a blessing way, and I
S4: was like, I can't imagine anything I'd rather do than talk,
S4: be at births and talk about birth. So I started
S4: doing the training when my boys twin boys were not
S4: even one.
S3: What is doula training?
S4: Well, a doula is someone who's present at birth. So
S4: it's emotional physical support at birth. Non-medical support. Or I mean,
S4: it may be thought of as a lay midwife, like
S4: women have been supporting women forever. And it's that someone
S4: that knows what you really want and you can trust,
S4: and is rubbing your back and encouraging you and supporting
S4: you with your agenda at heart. Yeah, they don't have
S4: any other agenda but being present to you. And I
S4: just love that I became very, very passionate about trusting
S4: birth and trusting life that goes along with it, you know,
S4: and the attitude of being present no matter what.
S3: I'd love to actually be and see someone else give birth,
S3: because it's different when it's yourself, because, you know, you
S3: kind of like you're waiting for them to make a
S3: sound or are they okay? And am I okay? Are
S3: they okay? Exactly. You're kind of you're more stressed in
S3: that sense, but like watching somebody else just bring you know,
S3: I'm jealous of my husband being able to watch.
S4: Well, your husband probably didn't know what was going on.
S4: And often men are really frightened.
S3: Mhm.
S4: And so they're they're kind of lost in their concern
S4: and wanting you to be okay. And, and we often
S4: have strangers at our birth. So to have someone who
S4: really gets to know you. Well we used to you know,
S4: it used to be a communal thing where we'd be
S4: with our sisters and we'd birth, would be at home,
S4: and we would know that very well. So having people
S4: you've never met before at your birth who don't know
S4: really anything about you. Yeah. Um, is a different thing
S4: than having someone who knows you deeply, knows what you
S4: long for, that you who you trust. And. Yeah, it's
S4: a very intimate thing.
S3: Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Oh. That's cool. So now you're into
S3: encapsulating placenta. So a lot of people do it these days.
S3: The Kardashians do it. A lot of celebrities do it.
S3: I did it. And it's funny, I did it. My
S3: husband organized it all. And, like, I didn't really research
S3: on what it did for me. I just was told
S3: it was really good and to do it. And I
S3: definitely noticed a difference. Um, so what made you go
S3: into that? You know, that direction?
S4: I became a trainer of doula, so I was teaching
S4: doula training, and I was doing birth education, and I
S4: was approached by a woman who was doing trainings in
S4: the States, and I attended that training and started encapsulating
S4: placentas straight away. I'd considered eating my placenta for my
S4: daughter in 2004, and I happened to speak to someone
S4: when I was pregnant who said that she froze her
S4: placenta and cut it up in little bits and popped
S4: it like a pill, because I didn't like the idea
S4: of cooking it and eating the whole thing.
S3: I cooked it and ate it. Did you hang on,
S3: hang on. Tell the truth, I didn't actually cook Anita.
S3: It was actually my sister in law's. And even though
S3: I've had the dried, you know, the capsules. Your own. Yeah.
S3: My own. My sister in law gave birth to my
S3: little nephew. She wanted to cook it and have it
S3: in a different kind of form anyway, so they chopped
S3: it up. They put it in the wok. They put
S3: herbs and spices in it. What herbs and spices are
S3: we talking? I don't even know pepper. I get garlic, everything.
S3: I think to kind of disguise the taste. And I
S3: was just not involved or wanting to do it. I
S3: was just like, this is not my journey. I kind
S3: of left the room and then when everyone was like
S3: sitting down to eat it, well, her and her husband,
S3: they're like, well, do you want to have a little try?
S3: And then I'm kind of like, I'm always very much,
S3: you know, got to do everything once, give everything a go.
S3: So I thought, you know what, what's the harm? Like
S3: it's been cooked, but then I yeah, it popped in
S3: my mouth and ate it. And I was like, oh,
S3: it's like garlic, salt and pepper. And now you can
S3: say you ate your sister in law's fried placenta. I
S3: can literally say that. So what is the process of
S3: taking the placenta. Yeah. Until you dry it out.
S4: Yeah. Well, yes, you can just eat it yourself.
S3: How long does it keep?
S4: Well, that's why we dehydrate it. It's actually to preserve. Yeah,
S4: it's a preserving process so that you don't have to
S4: eat it all in one sitting. Yeah. So, you know,
S4: we're kind of making beef jerky, like, we're dehydrating.
S3: Jerky situation.
S4: Yeah, well, a little bit more than that. And also dehydrating.
S4: We're trying to preserve as much of the nutrient factor.
S4: So cooking, you do lose some of that nutrient factor
S4: and you lose volume. So dehydrating it is a way
S4: to preserve it. And then you can grind it up
S4: and put it into capsules so that you can store it,
S4: dose it and keep it, you know, and let it
S4: last a little bit longer and be able to have
S4: a little bit at a time and take a little
S4: bit of that confronting factor out of it.
S3: Yeah. So you offer this service?
S4: I offer this.
S3: Service. Yeah. Okay. So what are the benefits? Sell it
S3: to me.
S4: When we're pregnant. And towards the end of the pregnancy,
S4: we've got more blood volume and we've got higher hormone
S4: levels than at any other time. And all of that
S4: is in the placenta. So after we give birth, we
S4: have a massive drop in hormones and in blood volume. Basically,
S4: what we're doing is like recycling it back into the system.
S3: So what's actually in it?
S4: So what's in it is if you were to design
S4: the most amazing antidepressant health boost, those are all the
S4: elements in it. So there's a lot of iron. So
S4: iron is good for energy and recovery and well-being and mood.
S4: There's vitamin B6. There's stem cells.
S3: Yes. Which is we we love the stem cells, the
S3: stem cells, the stem cells.
S4: There's there's hormones. So there's, um, estrogen, progesterone and oxytocin.
S4: So these.
S3: Are the happy one right.
S4: There. That's the love hormone.
S3: Yeah.
S4: It's the feel good hormones.
S3: I need some more of that before I go home
S3: to the kids. Yeah, yeah.
S4: That's right.
S3: I need oxytocin jab. Yeah yeah, yeah. Do you have
S3: any placenta capsules on you right now? Do they have
S3: human growth hormone in them? Yes. Yeah.
S4: And there's cortisol and there's human lactogen hormones. So that's
S4: why it increases breast milk supply.
S3: Okay. So what are the benefits.
S4: So all of those things are energizing. So basically if
S4: we go back a little bit of like you lose
S4: all of that. So when you lose all of that, you.
S4: That's why we have what we call the three day blues.
S4: Because your your hormone levels dive.
S3: Yeah. Oh, man. I did not stop crying, crocodile. Like the.
S3: That would be sploshing in my pumpkin risotto. I'd be there.
S3: I'm so happy. I've just had a baby.
S5: I'm happy. I love him. But.
S3: And then you could. They were so big. It was
S3: like a bowl full of tears, and they just would
S3: not stop. I actually felt like I was losing my mind.
S3: And no one prepared me for those three day baby
S3: blues or the. Yeah, I mean.
S4: There's no content. You don't know why you're crying.
S3: No, but. And I kind of felt happy, but bawling
S3: my eyes out at the same time. It was like
S3: such a headfuck. It was. Yeah, I did that every
S3: time I left the hospital because I didn't want to
S3: leave the hospital cos I was like, the hospital food
S3: is so nice and I've got all these people caring
S3: for me. Yeah. And you know what else? This is
S3: so weird. But every time I've had a baby, and
S3: by the second and the third time, I knew it
S3: was coming. But I'd always say to my husband when
S3: we left, I think I want to go and work
S3: for my obstetrician in his office. Yes, yes. Because I
S3: didn't want that connection to end. Yes. Because I had
S3: such a and and to his gorgeous midwives, I had
S3: such a deep connection, which was obviously there anyway. But
S3: I think the hormones are obviously driving that, and I
S3: didn't want to lose that. I thought, I'll just train up.
S3: I'll be, I'll be, I'll, I'll go and be a
S3: midwife and doula. And yes, it's crazy the, the the
S3: way the hormones change your thought patterns. And I thought,
S3: there's no big life decisions to be made immediately after birth.
S3: You've got to wait for everything to settle. because what
S3: it does to your personality is wild. So what you
S3: lose after giving birth, the capsules that you take, it's
S3: it's putting it back in. That's right. And kind of stabilizing,
S3: you know, your energy, your iron, your mood, all of
S3: that which.
S4: Is helping physical recovery and helping you not to be depleted. Yeah.
S4: So you're depleting. You kind of get depleted by the
S4: birth process and kind of like the survival process is
S4: designed to look after the baby. So when the baby's
S4: in you, you're glowing. You've got it all. You know,
S4: people say they glow and they feel great and your
S4: hair thickens and all of that because all the nourishment
S4: is on the system so that it can go through
S4: to the baby. But after birth, we lose hair. We lose.
S3: You know, just lost, like.
S4: Because you kind.
S3: Of.
S4: It all goes to the baby.
S3: Yeah.
S4: So we want to replenish the mother in on all
S4: levels so that we're not just losing all of our
S4: kind of nourishment to support the the baby.
S3: Yeah. I had friends whose teeth fell out when they
S3: were pregnant because they weren't getting enough calcium. So the
S3: baby takes will take the calcium. And what bones are
S3: the highest density of calcium is your teeth. Your teeth,
S3: your teeth fall out. Isn't that crazy? That's why in
S3: my mind, I'm like. That's why I was craving milk
S3: the whole time I was pregnant, right? Yeah. I didn't
S3: think of that. Are there any other, apart from humans?
S3: Like to animals eat their placentas.
S4: Every mammal eats their placenta. Even vegans. I've seen some
S4: footage of, like, monkeys. Chimpanzees like fighting to try and
S4: get the other monkeys placenta.
S3: No way is there a black market for people's placentas. Like,
S3: do people eat other people's placentas? Oh I did, yeah,
S3: but I mean, would people, would people buy someone else's placenta?
S4: I've heard that you can sell your placenta in China.
S4: So they've been using bloody.
S3: Should have got the twins one that would have gone
S3: for big money. That was such big money.
S4: That's the oldest culture that have been using placenta as
S4: not just for post-natal medicine, but for as a medicine
S4: for a long time.
S3: What else can you use it for if not postnatal?
S4: It's a blood tonic. It's a strengthening tonic. So for
S4: for strengthening right.
S2: Na na na na na.
S3: Name is your company when you are drying somebody's placenta.
S3: If you're not actually there at their birth, how's the process?
S3: Like is someone giving birth at the hospital? Do you
S3: then come in and collect it? Do you have to
S3: collect it in a certain amount of hours or days?
S3: Like what is the actual process if someone's looking at
S3: doing this?
S4: We want the turnaround to be quick. So we're like
S4: there are long term benefits, but if we we want
S4: to be quick because we want it like straight away
S4: within 24 hours, pick it up. Yeah. Um, and then.
S3: So you put it in a bag or like a.
S4: Well most hospitals.
S3: You.
S4: I will arrange a collection.
S3: Okay.
S4: Yep. Um, I'll use couriers or myself or whatever to
S4: pick it up in a timely manner. Um, most hospitals have,
S4: like a it's considered biohazard because it's medical waste. So
S4: because of that, they want to contain it which which
S4: is good for your safety as well as theirs. And
S4: same with my my safety and your safety are the same.
S4: So I'm going to take care of it because I
S4: want to take care of me and I'm going to. Yeah.
S4: So they have a little they have the most hospitals
S4: have buckets with sealed lids. And they've got your little label,
S4: you know, you get your sticker with all your dates
S4: on it and that gets stuck on it. And that's easy,
S4: easy for managing. And so I collect it, I process
S4: it and then get the capsules packaged. There's a few
S4: things in the package when you send them back.
S3: Yeah. And how long does it take?
S4: Usually within three days.
S3: Okay. And the cost?
S4: Between 4 and $500 approximately. Okay. Yeah.
S3: So we touched on those three day baby blues hormones
S3: having babies especially I think having your first baby. Absolutely.
S3: It rocked my world. And nobody told me how much
S3: of maybe it was like an identity crisis. It's like,
S3: who am I? I'm a mom. Am I still my
S3: old self? Apart from something like placenta encapsulation, what can
S3: we do to help new moms?
S4: Education is really limited. You know, doula training was wonderful
S4: because we'd be sitting together with women. It's like, I
S4: don't know if you've read the book the Red tent.
S4: Have you read that book?
S3: No, but I was telling you, that's what we say
S3: when we both when we get our period. I mean, the.
S4: Tents, right?
S3: I'm in the tent. Are you? When she's like, yesterday,
S3: I'm like, me too. What time of the day? Yeah.
S3: Who is my Alpha? And got it first. We are
S3: in sync. Yeah. But yeah. So we're. Yeah, we definitely
S3: know about the Red tent.
S4: Yeah, yeah. Because a lot of the focus these days
S4: is on snapping back, you know, and people are really, like, admired.
S4: She's got a pre-baby body back and she's back at work.
S4: And you know, it's great if she looks unaffected by
S4: the birth of a baby. And we've really not connecting
S4: to the profound spiritual awakening and the changes and the
S4: you're becoming, you are becoming a whole new person. And
S4: that can evoke a lot of things. It can awaken things.
S4: It can activate trauma, gaslight. So if we we need
S4: to be sharing these stories, ideally, you know, if I
S4: could wish for something for women to be doing sort of.
S4: There are things around there like new mother circles and
S4: pregnancy circles where people are sharing their stories, how they're
S4: feeling and connecting to the bigger picture, rather than the
S4: nuts and bolts of what's going on.
S3: Yeah, because at the end of the day, social media,
S3: like people can smash a baby out and look great,
S3: but it's not. It's not the way. No. With me.
S3: So I wrote a book called The Baby Bible, and
S3: I shared my experience because being the first person in
S3: my family on both sides and in my friendship group
S3: to have a baby, no one told me how shit
S3: it could be. So I went in there and you
S3: kind of see these these Hollywood movies. I had the
S3: Hollywood experience. I was telling Jess earlier of the, you know,
S3: the waters breaking and the amniotic fluid gushing out. And
S3: it was like, okay, this is this is how I
S3: this playing out. As per, I thought it would, but
S3: no one actually told me that, you know, when they
S3: give you when they hand you your baby and then
S3: you take your baby home, that sometimes then they might
S3: not be a connection there, and you might not be
S3: enjoying yourself, and you might be completely bewildered and overwhelmed
S3: by the experience, because what you see in movies is, oh,
S3: they place the baby in my arms. It was love
S3: at first sight. This whole love at first sight. Yes,
S3: sometimes it happens. It happened for me with baby three
S3: and four, but with my first child it was shock.
S3: I remember my obstetrician said I delivered Oscar and he goes,
S3: take your baby. And I went, what? He goes, take
S3: your baby. And I was like, oh, I've got a
S3: baby now. And I had to. I grabbed him and
S3: I remember putting him on me and I was looking
S3: at him like, oh yeah, what is this? I'm like,
S3: it wasn't that ooh.
S5: Love, oh my God. I'm overwhelmed with this incredible emotion.
S3: It was like.
S5: What the.
S3: Fuck? Yeah, what do I do? And then he'd cry
S3: and then I'd need to feed him. And being a
S3: Type-A personality who micromanages everything, having no idea what I
S3: was doing and then thinking, who am I? Completely overwhelmed.
S3: No one told me it would be like that. I
S3: thought it was all going to be rainbows and beautiful
S3: music playing, and it just wasn't. So I wrote about
S3: it in my book, and then I tell everyone now
S3: who's having their first child, I'm like, it could be really,
S3: really shit. Prepare for it to be an identity crisis
S3: and for you to not enjoy it. And if you
S3: don't enjoy it, it's okay. But you might have the
S3: other experience where it is all rainbows and butterflies, because
S3: I've had that as well. But I think it's preparing women.
S3: I didn't have postnatal depression. I don't think I just was,
S3: I just didn't I don't know, it would have been
S3: all your hormones just all over the place and just
S3: not having that sense of control. And like, I knew
S3: what I was doing, being someone who always could manage
S3: everything and was good at everything. And your mum was also,
S3: I'm really shit at this. And my baby wakes up
S3: all night and I can't get him to sleep, and
S3: I just sit on the floor trying to get him
S3: to shut up because my husband was playing football and
S3: I didn't want him to wait. Chris and then Chris
S3: would have a bad game because the baby was awake.
S3: Chris couldn't care less. He just wanted to be with us.
S3: So I'd be trying to shush Oscar, just bawling my
S3: eyes out, going, hi.
S5: I'm out of control and this is.
S3: Shit and I hate it.
S4: Yeah, and also, it's not meant to be like this,
S4: so I'm feeling like shit, but I'm also feeling like
S4: a failure because this isn't how it was meant to be. Yeah.
S4: So if, you know, that's great that you're sort of
S4: educating people so that they can understand that it can
S4: be like that. I think there's bigger romantic fantasies about
S4: how you're going to feel, and the love you're going
S4: to feel with a new baby than romantic love, the
S4: romantic fantasy that you're talking about of, like, I'm in
S4: love and everything's wonderful and I just know what to do.
S4: And it's it's just easy. That's a fantasy. It's much
S4: more complicated and challenging, especially.
S3: With the first baby. I completely agree. Thank you so
S3: much for coming in. Learn a lot. Pleasure. Awesome. And
S3: if you want to encapsulate your placenta, we can find
S3: you at your company. It's called opening to life.
S4: Opening to life. When I was a doula, that's the
S4: whole thing. Opening to life and everything it brings.
S3: And now it's like, and what's your Insta? Is it
S3: the same at Opening to life? Yes. Amazing.
S4: Beautiful.
S3: Thank you so much, Anna, for coming in.
S4: Beautiful to meet you.
S3: She was great. She was amazing. I wish I'd encapsulated
S3: the placenta from my twins. Now knowing just like that
S3: placenta was like a super human. Amazing. You would have
S3: had that. You'd be. You'd be still eating. I'd still
S3: be munching on it. Yeah. And I wouldn't be anemic.
S3: I'd be glowing. I'd be all the stem cells would
S3: be doing all the stem cell things. Yeah, you'd be
S3: looking magical, even though you look magic anyway. But yeah. No,
S3: it's so interesting. As I said earlier, like, I took
S3: the placenta capsules, but not really knowing or reading the
S3: research and what it would do. I kind of just
S3: put in my brain on almost like a placebo effect.
S3: I was like, this is going to make me amazing,
S3: but how amazing that your husband sorted that out for
S3: you because he saw the need. Like, that's that's a
S3: great move, pal. Yeah, he just won brownie points. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No,
S3: but I think that if I do have more babies
S3: in the future, it's definitely because I've done it twice.
S3: It's something I would continue doing. Yeah. I guess if
S3: you ever did have any more babies, you'd maybe consider
S3: doing it. Yeah, but I mean, that's a whole nother
S3: podcast episode if I can even have babies. Well, I
S3: can't have babies. But yeah, if you could talk about
S3: that in another episode because, whoa, that's like a week
S3: worth of content that is about my future fertility. Yeah, yeah.
S3: Or lack thereof. Who knows? Thanks for listening to vanish.
S3: That was an awesome episode. Thanks to Anna for coming in.
S3: We'll see you next time. See you next time. Bye
S3: for now.
S2: Only do what we wanna know. Same ish.