I just received a whole information pack from the school, with an orientation guide and one syllabus each for Anatomy and Physiology, and History and Politics of Midwifery. Have I mentioned that I'm excited?! (2 weeks to go...)
Just because it absolutely thrilled me, I thought I'd insert a little blurb from my info pack for the elective courses, which are short (usually one- or two-day) workshops to supplement our formal programme. This is one such workshop:
Placenta Medicine
Instructor: Robin Doolittle, CPM
Learn about “placentophagia”, Traditional Chinese Medicine “placenta capsules,” and other uses for the placenta. This is a practical, hands-on class, and we will be working with placentas. You will leave with a skill and a recipe to be able to do this in your apprenticeships or practice. Other ways of preparing placentas for nourishment/medicine will be discussed.
Wow!
ReplyDeleteThat will be awesome :)
Thanks, Ladybug!
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of placentas, here's another extract from the "Saving Lives" article at Midwifery today, which I've referenced in a previous post.
"I remember the first time I was introduced to the technique of placing a piece of the birthing mother’s placenta under her tongue to help control excessive blood loss, especially in a case where the labor had been long and exhausting. Having been raised on a farm, I was well aware of the instinctual habit of other mammals to eat their afterbirth and had been told how important it was for them to be strong and safe.
"Humans are hard-pressed to be reminded that they too are instinctual animals. We often take the same natural remedy more comfortably after science and research study, package, encapsulate and recount the effectiveness and rationale for the remedy—which they now call a drug. My own work in rural villages and with closely knit groups like immigrants, Mennonites, ethnically displaced peoples and back-to-earth subcultures taught me that many wimyn have retained their instinctual nature to birth upright, vocalize, immediately embrace their young and prefer a piece of their own placenta for life-threatening complications like postpartum hemorrhage. I continue to be amazed with how quickly and effectively the nutritional and specialized hormonal mini-dose of a tiny inch slice of her own placenta can change a womyn’s grave situation to stable, saving not only a life but an additionally exhaustive transport." - Sister Morningstar