Thanks to doula Joni Lucarelli, Kim Kardashian is eating her placenta.
“I had great results and felt so energized and didn’t have any signs of depression … Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good,” Saint West’s mom wrote in a post raving about placenta pills on Monday.
Lucarelli, who has been encapsulating placentas for six years, has worked with celebrity clients in the past and has encapsulated close to 500 placentas, she estimates.
“The studies are inconclusive but anecdotally, what we’re seeing is that women who are bringing their placenta back into their bodies this way are reporting that their milk supplies are better for the baby, their energy is higher, they don’t seem to be struggling with postpartum depression to the extent that women [who] are not doing this may be,” she explained.
The entire process, including being on call for questions and concerns, costs $275.
After a client gives birth, Lucarelli picks up the placenta from the hospital and prepares it at her home using either the Traditional Chinese Method (gently steaming the placenta with lemon, ginger and hot pepper before dehydrating) or the Raw Foods Method (processed raw and dehydrated at a temperature not to exceed 118 degrees, which Kardashian chose).
It’s then returned to the mom, usually within a day’s time.
The number of capsules is proportional to the size of the placenta and clients usually receive between 100 and 200 capsules. Most clients are directed to take one capsule three times a day until they are finished, but Lucarelli says sometimes new moms will take them more slowly.
“Some moms, when they start to feel like they are landing on their feet OK, [will] stop taking the capsules and save them for hormonally challenging periods in the future,” Lucarelli says. “By putting them in a Ziploc and throwing them in the freezer — [for] days of PMS or menopause if they want to drag along for that many years.”
And the popularity is only growing. “It’s fodder for all kinds of crazy,” Lucarelli said. “If it hasn’t become a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit yet, then it will.”
Despite there being no scientific proof of its powers, Lucarelli stands behind the process.
“It’s not a sure bet — you might still have a pretty crummy postpartum, you may still suffer from postpartum depression,” she says. “If you can hedge your bet for a mere $275 in the hopes that it might increase your milk supply and make your postpartum depression lessen, I would totally do it.”