Today we would like to introduce you to Katie Minder, a Birth Doula with a bit of a twist! Not only is she a certified Birth Doula, but she is also a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist. Placenta Encapsulation is a service that is relatively new but becoming increasingly more popular with new moms. Read on to find out more!!
Your Name: Katie Minder
Your Website: www.fromtummytoMummy.com
Your email address: katie@fromtummytoMummy.com
1. What’s your name/business name and tell us a bit about yourself. How many children do you have?
My business, From Tummy To Mummy, was started a couple of years ago after my youngest son turned a year. I am the mother of four truly incredible young men. My eldest is 22 followed by his younger brother now 21 and then a 17 year gap after which I had my third son, who is 4 and then our fourth (a surprise at 42!) born on Christmas Day who has just turned 3. There is never a dull – or quiet – moment in our house. It’s perfect!
2. What product/service do you offer?
From Tummy To Mummy offers Birth Doula Services as well as Placenta Encapsulation Services. I am a DONA trained and certified Birth Doula as well as a Full Circle certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist. As a Birth Doula I provide emotional, physical and informational support to both the mother and her partner during labour, delivery and immediately postpartum. As a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist, something I am so excited about and believe wholeheartedly in, I offer various placenta services throughout the Lower Mainland including placenta encapsulation (either raw or TCM), placenta prints, tinctures and salves. I will pick up the placenta from a client’s home or the hospital and normally have it delivered back to them within 24 – 48 hours. The encapsulation is almost always completed within the first 24 hours.
3. How long have you been in business and what inspired you to create your shop?
I have been supporting women in labour for the past 15 years. It was only when my youngest was a year old that I decided to pursue my certification as both a Birth Doula and a Placenta Encapsulation Specialist. Being able to support women and their families as they transition into motherhood or ‘family hood’ for the first, second or fourth time (ahem!) is nothing short of incredible. I have been at births where labours have been precipitous and others where labour has plodded along, where there have been happy and not so happy surprises at that moment when that precious, much wanted and long anticipated life enters the world. I have held in my hands the placentas of babies that are mere hours old…amazed and humbled at the work this organ did during the pregnancy and excited to see how it will continue working its magic for the new postpartum mother. It is my admiration for these mothers and the passion for what I do that inspired me to create From Tummy To Mummy.
4. What is the one thing you hope all your clients know about your product/service?
Placenta encapsulation is still relatively new however it is definitely becoming more accepted by the public and birthing community as a valuable part of a new mother’s postpartum journey. Placenta encapsulation is described as the process of preparing the mother’s placenta after the birth of her baby(ies) and dehydrating it to then be ground and placed into capsules for the mother to ingest as she sees fit. The ingestion of the placenta is known as “placentophagy”. The purpose of placentophagy by the mother is to reintroduce the beneficial vitamins, minerals, hormones, proteins, and other nutrients to her body following labor and birth to help restore a more balanced body function, assist in preventing the “baby blues” and the more serious postpartum depression, increase breast-milk production, shorten healing time, increase maternal energy levels, and provide an over-all feeling of wellness to aid in the transition between pregnancy and the early postpartum period in the woman who has just given birth.
I prepare and encapsulate the placenta in my home according to BC Food Safe standards. It is always handled in a respectful and sanitary manner and put into capsule form in a sanitized workspace. In addition to having my BC Food Safe certificate, my certification also requires me to hold a certificate in Bloodborne Pathogens for Placenta Encapsulation Specialists. Each client can be assured that the utmost care and safety has been taken in the entire process of encapsulating their placenta.
The vast majority of mothers I have worked with as their Birth Doula have chosen to encapsulate their placentas to enhance their postpartum journey and 100% of them would choose to do it again if/when they have another baby. To me, that truly speaks volumes as to the benefits of Placenta Encapsulation.
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5. Where can people find your product?
My website: www.fromtummytomummy.com has some great information on it and if you have any questions, I’m always reachable by phone and happy to chat. I work all over the Lower Mainland and have attended births from North Vancouver all the way to Maple Ridge and have picked up clients’ placentas from everywhere and in-between!
6. Anything else to add?
I believe so much in providing this service to new Mums that in May I will complete my own training so that I can certify other individuals as Encapsulation Specialists. A portion of the training to become certified is done in person (and some of it is done on your own), either one on one or at a workshop, and whenever possible includes observing the process of preparing a placenta for encapsulation. If you are interested in taking a workshop to become a Certified or would like to know more, please call (778-998-2610) or email me at katie@fromtummytomummy.com
