In June 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning that linked a mother's consumption of the placenta to her baby's infection. Many still contend that the practice has health benefits for mothers. But experts on both sides say that eating the placenta has, at best, no benefits for men.
Answer From Mary Marnach, M.D. Eating your placenta after giving birth (placentophagy) can pose harm to both you and your baby. The placenta is an intricate organ that nourishes the growing fetus by exchanging nutrients and oxygen and filtering waste products via the umbilical cord.
The rationale for this is that in the immediate postpartum period, the birthing parent experiences a large and sudden drop in pregnancy-related hormones that can result in low mood and energy. The placenta produces a lot of those hormones and so re-ingesting it could replace some of them.
In fact, researchers at Northwestern University School of Medicine conducted a study and found no evidence that ingesting placenta had any of these purported affects on mothers. Even further, there is zero research or evidence suggesting that ingesting placenta will do anything for a father.
“Though it is a rich source of protein, it is designed to feed the baby, not the mother,” says Dr Rohan Lewis, a reader of physiology at the University of Southampton. “If you do decide to eat placenta, it's probably best to eat your own, rather than other people's.”
Typically, women eat their placenta after delivery to reap potential benefits, such as a quicker recovery from birth. The practice is called placentophagy and, according to one study, 25 percent of women would be willing to try it.
While there is a maternal component, placental tissue is mainly derived from the fertilized egg and carries the fetus's genome. So technically, wouldn't eating the placenta fit the definition of cannibalism: eating the flesh of another individual of your own species?
Do Hospitals Keep Placentas? Hospitals treat placentas as medical waste or biohazard material. The newborn placenta is placed in a biohazard bag for storage. Some hospitals keep the placenta for a period of time in case the need arises to send it to pathology for further analysis.
Vegans avoid the exploitation of animals. Placentas belong to the person who has given birth and it is up to them what they do with it,” explains the mum-of-three. “Preparing a placenta for a client in my opinion is vegan as there is no exploitation.
Kourtney Kardashian has eaten her placenta from when she gave birth to her third child, as has Kim Kardashian with her second, Saint. Both sisters had their placentas encapsulated, which Khloé has also said she wants to do.
Q: What are the risks involved with eating the placenta? A: There's evidence to suggest that the placenta is teeming with harmful bacteria, such as group B streptococcus. So if your plan is to eat your placenta, you'll probably ingest that bacteria, too.
In Central India, women of the Kol Tribe eat placenta to aid reproductive function. It is believed that consumption of placenta by a childless woman "may dispel the influences that keep her barren".
They're not the only ones who've openly sung the praises of placentophagy. Model Chrissy Teigen and actresses Katherine Heigl and Mayim Bialik have also opened up about eating their placenta, claiming that it improved their energy and mood and helped with their postnatal recovery.
The placenta does not, technically, belong to the mother.
Our bodies may create it, but it is part of the developing child, which means it is also made up of 50 percent genetic material from the father.
Some people who have eaten placenta say that it's kind of chewy and tastes like liver or beef. Others say that it has an iron taste. If that sounds unpleasant, and you want to try placenta, you might want to consider combining it with other foods or cooking it.
Something only fetuses and mothers share grows according to blueprints from dad, says new Cornell research. Published in PNAS in May 2013, the study shows that paternal genes dominate in the placenta, a temporary organ integrating mother and embryo until birth.
Sometimes a mother will decide to cut the cord, or the partner or another loved one may do it. This process works the same no matter who cuts the cord. Your birthing team or doula will guide you through it. Remember that the mom and baby can't feel the cord being cut.
The nutrient-dense tissue can help with reconstructive procedures, the healing of wounds and burns, ocular procedures, spinal surgeries, and other medical needs.
The placenta acts to provide oxygen and nutrients to the fetus, whilst removing carbon dioxide and other waste products. It metabolises a number of substances and can release metabolic products into maternal and/or fetal circulations.
The average energy value of the placenta tissue was 5 calories per grain dry weight.
The act of eating the placenta after you give birth, called placentophagy, isn't just something animals do. Human moms do it, too, including tribal women and glamorous celebrities.
When a sperm fertilises the egg, cells begin to multiply to form a blastocyst, which then becomes the placenta and baby. It's very easy to think of the placenta as one of the mother's organs, but it's actually created from both parents. The process of pregnancy is amazing.
Though the decision to consume your own placenta should be made with caution, never eat someone else's placenta, as illnesses that can be transmitted by blood—hepatitis, HIV, etc. —may potentially be present.
Is eating the placenta safe? The placenta may also be a source of potentially harmful substances. During pregnancy, the placenta regulates the transfer of substances between mother and baby. As such, accumulation of potentially toxic substances can occur.
Exceptions that do not consume the placenta include all sea mammals, members of the camelid family (camels, alpacas and llamas), and humans. Marsupials also do not ingest their placentas, as they are resorbed after giving birth.