DIY: Placenta Tincture

Written by Kate Tietje

Many women are opting to make a tincture from their placenta and are experiencing great benefits from it.

Benefits of Consuming the Placenta

• Reduced risk of postpartum depression

• Even mood, lack of crying

• Extra energy

• Quicker postpartum healing

• Increased milk supply

• …and more

Most of these benefits are being reported by women who have tried it. Some women have only had babies and consumed their placentas; other women had had pregnancies where they didn’t consume the placenta and pregnancies where they did and noticed significant differences in their postpartum experiences and recovery when they did do it vs. didn’t. Especially since we lack “real” evidence, I think we should pay close attention to these experiences.

I didn’t even know this was a “thing” when my fourth baby was born. In fact, I didn’t hear about it until a few months before my fifth was born. It can be made into both capsules and tinctures.

Capsule Benefit:

• Capsules of dried placenta have distinct advantages.

• Ready in hours

• Easy to take/no flavor

• Easy to make/little special equipment

Tincture Benefit:

• Extremely potent (1 drop = 1 capsule)

• Shelf-stable

• Long-lasting

• No special equipment

I chose both. Capsules are needed right away, but tincture means the benefits last longer. I was able to use my placenta to make about 75 capsules (the average is 100 – 150 from a whole placenta) plus 8 oz. of tincture. That’s quite a lot of benefit!

How to Make Placenta Tincture

This really could not be easier. It took me all of three minutes to do the final steps of this. (It probably took my husband an additional 5 – 10 minutes to do the first step.)

Supplies:

• Placenta

• 100-proof vodka

• A glass jar with a lid (mine was 8 oz.)

Directions:

1. First, admire the placenta that nourished your baby for nine months. How amazing is that?
2. Rinse the placenta and remove the cord and membranes
3. Cut off a chunk of the placenta. You can do this fresh or dried. My husband (who was nice enough to prepare this for me) forgot to do it fresh, so I did it from drying. The jar was about 1/4 full. I would have done closer to 1/2 if it were fresh.
4. Pour vodka over the placenta to fill the jar.
5. Add the lid, shake, and store in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks.
6. After this, strain it out. Discard the placenta and keep the liquid, ideally in a dark brown glass bottle.

Usage:

1 drop = 1 capsule of dried placenta, so it’s very potent. Take as needed.