It has been found that there are a number of benefits of eating one’s placenta, otherwise known as placentophagy. These include warding off postpartum depression (PPD), replacing lost nutrients, increasing energy, replacing hormones, aiding the onset of lactation, and reducing postpartum blood loss by stimulating the uterus to contract back to its original size. There are other ways to prevent uterine blood loss (like breastfeeding and a shot of pitocin in your leg) and there are other ways to replenish the store of nutrients, like iron, lost in blood (nettle tea, a nice big steak); however, it is my opinion that if placentophagy provides benefits (and the yuck factor isn’t applicable to you), then why not try it?
The placenta plays a key role in providing nutrition to the fetus so it isn’t a far stretch to consider the nutritional value available to the mother. It is common for other mammals to eat their placenta. Whether this is to ward off predators or to benefit from the nutrients, scientists aren’t sure, but I don’t think it’s hard to understand how placenta nutrients might benefit the health of the new mother. Medical cures are often derived from nature. Isn’t it a miraculous gift that mothers can actually make their own new-mother medicine? Indeed, Chinese Medicine has recognized the placenta as a proponent of healing for centuries.
Because the placenta contains estrogen and progesterone, some women believe that the sudden withdrawal of those hormones after the delivery is what causes the baby blues, and that ingesting the afterbirth restores hormone levels [Source]. My personal theory, not at all based on science by the way, is this. The placenta is the world’s only disposable organ. It links the blood supply of the embryo to the blood supply of the mother, allowing the exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and waste products. It also produces hormones that maintain and regulate pregnancy [Source]. It is grown for the exclusive purpose of supporting pregnancy. Pregnancy results in childbirth, childbirth results in motherhood, motherhood results in the most life-altering event on Earth. Life altering events can often cause a great deal of stress. The specific kind of stress childbirth and motherhood result in is called the “baby blues” or in more serious cases, postpartum depression. Since the placenta and PPD are so intimately connected, through the hormones involved in the “growth” of both a physical object and an emotional state, I hypothesize that eating the placenta soon after birth helps restore the hormones lost during childbirth and thus decreases and/or prevents the sad feelings accompanying those early days.
Picture this. You are living in a time before iron supplements. It is a time when the best sources of iron are found in organ meat, a time when you don’t have the luxury of saying “yuck, organ meat.” You have just given birth. Your husband is out hunting and no one knows when he will be back. All there is to eat is bread. You have lost a lot of blood and you are very hungry. Thank goodness for your placenta. Doesn’t it make sense that nature would supply a new mother with a certain form of replenishing nourishment in case of uncertain times?
Most of us are familiar with the fact that postpartum depression can be diagnosed within the first year after a child is born, so wouldn’t it also make sense to preserve some of the placenta to keep on hand for the possible difficulties during the first year? Some women keep their placenta capsules in the freezer with plans to use them during the emotional ups and downs of menopause.
I can hear you protesting. “But the purpose of the placenta is to help grow the baby!” Yes, but if it’s sole purpose was to grow the baby why wouldn’t nature leave the placenta inside us, like the rest of our reproductive organs?
I’m just saying.
I knew of a woman who dried and encapsulated her placenta and not only ate some of it herself postpartum, but fed it to her children as they grew up whenever they fell ill. When a child got sick she fed that child a capsule of its own placenta, and supposedly the children got better faster. One also can make placenta butter and use it for a child’s skin problems, like eczema.
Both of my placentas are in my freezer. Originally I liked the idea of drying and encapsulating them but until the writing of this post I never got around to reading up on how to do it. And if you haven’t figured it out within a couple days postpartum you’re out of luck. Additionally, it isn’t recommended to use the placenta for medical or nutritive purposes once it’s been frozen (especially not when it’s been in a freezer for 2 1/2 and 5 years!). One day I plan to plant a tree with them. When and where is still a mystery. Maybe once they’re defrosted I will even do some placenta art if they are still viable.
If you are interested in encapsulating your placenta here’s how you can do it. For another method that includes cooking the placenta with special spices, check out this post. Warning: Some people may consider the photos in these posts graphic (i.e., if the idea of putting your placenta in the blender grosses you out you might want to pass).
Disclaimer: Consumption of uncooked human placenta carries risks associated with other human blood products, primarily risk of hepatitis B,C and HIV infection.This risk also applies to the baby. However, eating one’s own placenta does not carry those risks. If you are invited to eat someone else’s placenta – be responsible.
To read some personal stories from my Mental Health and Breastfeeding series, go here to read Ruth’s story, here to read Arwyn’s story and here to read Jennifer’s story.
Would you consider encapsulating and eating your placenta? Did you save yours for any other purpose? I’d love to hear your story.
Related posts:
- Monday Musings: How Much Do You Emphasize Healthy Eating in Your Home?
- Do Hormones Really Account for a Mom’s Ability to Breastfeed??
Tags: nature, placenta, postpartum depression
Organ meat, ick! Indeed. I got to see my placenta after the BP was born but let them dispose of it as the hospital (I did, happily, have a choice). I thought long and hard about it beforehand and I figured I just wasn’t likely to get over the ick, so I decided to leave it. It was cool to look at though!
CaroLyn´s last blog ..What I Love About Pumping
I’m so glad you wrote about this! You know my position – I’m absolutely eating my placenta next time (not in the raw form, however – encapsulated.)
And I love how you describe it as a disposable organ. It does make sense that nature would move it out of the body for our consumption – after all, if it were just another reproductive organ, why didn’t nature create a permanent one?
I just watched a video recently of an ape giving birth and eating the amniotic sac – and yes, it kinda made me wanna vomit. But because we are an evolved species, we can ingest our placentas in a pill form, just like we get many of our other supplements.
Love it. I can’t wait to hear more responses from women who’ve done it.
TheFeministBreeder´s last blog ..Growing Up Poor, White Trash
This is one way that I’m not so crunchy. If you want to eat your placenta, great! I know that there are lots of reasons to consider it. But I just find the idea too unappealing.
My first placenta did not deliver properly. It came out in pieces, and was sent to the lab for pathology. The results let us know that I had an acute infection that had caused my daughter’s preterm birth and my subsequent hemorrhage. Had we not known that we might have handled my second pregnancy differently. My second placenta, I am relieved to say, came out in one piece with no drama. I was happy to know that, but not really interested in keeping it or doing anything with it.
I hope that you find a great place to plant some trees.
Amber´s last blog ..Green Holiday Traditions
I saved my placenta and put it in the freezer, with no intention of eating it. I planted it under the orange tree in the backyard of the house I gave birth to my son in. I was hoping it would nourish the tree that I spent time under nursing him.
I know other mammals eat their placentas, but they also use their tongues to clean their young and groom themselves. We have never done that. I also feel like it’s a bit of self-cannabilism. People eat animal organ meats, but not other humans, so it doesn’t compute with me to eat your own either. I am not a fan of eating livers because they are cleansing organs and may contain toxins as well as iron and other nutrients.
I guess because I had no post-partum depression it didn’t enter into my mind to eat the placenta for it’s healing properties. Perhaps if I suffered with depression, I may have researched and had a different opinion.
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@PureMothers – I see what you are saying Deborah. I like how you are providing a yin to my yang (or vice versa) with the argument about organs like the liver containing toxins. As we both know the placenta too can contain toxins. And I know we don’t live in the time I refer to in the post – we now have a choice in the matter and many alternatives to choose from if we need to replenish lost blood and nutrients, but looking at this from a historical, anthropological and physiological point of view, I still think nature has more in mind for our placentas than what they do for our babies.
I also hear what you are saying about self-cannibalism, but I can point out for the sake of argument that because the placenta is expelled from the mother’s body, eating it would not be considered cannibalism (or self-cannibalism) any more than eating your fingernails or hair would (other un-needed body parts). But I get that because it was once a living, working organ and looks very meaty, that it would be undesirable for most people. Believe me, my stomach turned when I first saw the pictur eof the placenta in the blender and I thought “whoa, I’m glad I can’t eat mine now because if that’s what I would have to do to dry and encapsulate it, I don’t think I would have been able to.” I guess that’s why they have people who do it for new moms as a service now.
For me a good deal of the ick factor is that the placenta is genetically the tissue of your baby, not you. It’s not the mom’s reproductive organ, it’s the baby’s organ that it only needs to connect to mom in utero. I know I’ve seen the facts somewhere about which primate relatives do eat placentas and which don’t – and I don’t recall exactly, but I don’t think it was incredibly illuminating from an evolutionary perspective – some do and some don’t, so it’s not clear what humans naturally do. My feeling is that most women would not need to because humans are so social we’re not just waiting for our husband from our nuclear family to come home with meat, but we can share food within our tribe and preserve food for later use, and not need the immediate food source upon birth. However, it’s an insurance policy for mothers who have a difficult birth with a lot of blood loss, or giving birth alone or during lean times for the tribe. I think the mother’s intuition should guide her as to whether eating the placenta is necessary or not – and I like to think if your intuition says yes, that the ick factor drops away
I am curious about the dried and encapsulated placenta idea – that can’t match any evolutionarily honed physiological purpose for placenta eating – which suggests to me that it’s useful as a treatment only for a situation that’s already out of balance… which most of us may be anyway, considering what our modern lifestyles are!
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Um, yuck. I do have my placenta frozen in the freezer and plan to plant it under a tree, but that’s about as crunchy with my placenta as I’ll get!
Kim´s last blog ..Huh, would you look at that?
While I didn’t eat or save my placenta (we were moving in a few months after the birth and I couldn’t fathom trying to keep it frozen over the two day journey), my son and his doula did placenta prints in the kitchen while I was getting sorted out after my daughters birth. He loved it and I still have them. Some people might think that an odd art project for a 3 1/2 year old, he thought it was great.
On another note, I did suffer with postpartum with my second and had I encapsulated my placenta, I think it would have been a godsend.
Great post Melodie!
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There is no way I would ever eat the placenta! I have a gag reflex anytime I think about it. I couldn’t keep it in my freezer either.