- We are in the car heading to the hospital.
Ochi just had her baby and we are gonna go
scoop up her placenta.
(gentle acoustic guitar)
- Hillary asked me if she could film the process
of me eating my placenta (laughs).
And I think the subject said Ochi's Placenta.
And I said sure, why not, you know,
I'm down to try something new and different.
This is my second child and with my first child
I didn't eat the placenta, so I was curious to see
if there'd be a difference. If I'd feel any different.
- The other day when I went to the hospital
they couldn't give me the placenta,
so Ochi and her husband got it,
and I just came to their house to pick it up.
It's me in the driver's seat, placenta riding shotgun.
And we are off on an adventure.
(up-tempo acoustic music)
- Hi, my name is Sara and we are in
my placenta lab, and we're going to be
preparing Ochi's placenta today.
I'm going to be preparing it
in the traditional Chinese medicine method,
which is basically steaming it first.
And then it will get sliced thinly and dehydrated overnight.
- And then you put it into capsules.
- Yes, and then I will grind it into powder
and put it into capsules.
Voilà, 144.
Some women need more, some women need less.
- Why would a mom want to eat her placenta?
- The main reason is to help prevent the baby blues,
but it also helps to restore your iron levels,
it helps to replenish your body from what you lost
after childbirth, and it just helps to give you
an overall, easier recovery.
- So we're just leaving Sara's house,
that was way less gross than I thought.
We'll be back tomorrow to get it to Ochi.
- I just had a baby, I'm naturally exhausted,
and I'm so excited I'm gonna eat my placenta.
Ooh, there's a pretty jar.
It just looks like a little
grayish, brownish, powder.
Doesn't smell like anything (chuckles).
And I'm up! No, I'm just kidding (laughs).
It didn't taste like anything.
But let's see how I feel.
So I just feel, like, really happy all of a sudden.
I mean, not that I was sad before,
but just, like, extra happy.
I felt as if something should happen
the moment I ingested it (laughing).
There's all this pressure of what are you gonna feel,
what's it gonna do to you, how are you gonna react.
Day one, so far so good.
I will be here continuing to take them regularly
and I'll keep you updated.
Even though I'm seriously exhausted, I can't relax.
I don't know how to really describe it, it's like having
a cup of coffee, after a cup of coffee,
after a cup of coffee.
I just look around the house and, like, oh,
I need to fix that, oh, I need to frame that, oh,
I need to clean that (laughs).
And I just want my mind to shut down.
(sighing) I don't know what I got myself into.
I'm just, like (sighs quietly).
I just feel so wound up and I can't tell
if that has to do with taking care of a newborn
and a toddler, or if it's these pills.
It was weird because with my first pregnancy,
you're just so drained and this one I felt like
I couldn't relax, I couldn't stop doing anything.
So, I'm tired as fuck.
(baby crying)
(laughs and sighs wearily) Can you hear that?
I felt very connected to the animal world.
It's been two weeks, they taste really bad now,
and they smell awful.
I don't know how much longer
I can continue to take them.
Did I eat my placenta?
Yes, (laughs loudly) I did!
Was it fun? Um, kind of.
I mean, the build up to it, and then the, like,
attention around it was really fun
but the actual taking of the pills wasn't that great.
And, would I do it again?
I don't know. (laughs)
I'm not gonna have any more kids,
so I don't even have to worry about it.