Some families wish to take the baby's placenta home to bury it. Others would like to take the placenta home for consumption. In most cases it is fine to take your placenta home for burial or consumption as long as you follow the basic health and safety precautions that are explained below.
A practice known as placentophagy, some people choose to eat their placenta after birth. They usually either encapsulate it into pill form or add it to smoothies. And it's becoming more popular, with celebrities like Hilary Duff, Kourtney Kardashian, and January Jones eating or taking placenta pills after birth.
While some claim that placentophagy can prevent postpartum depression; reduce postpartum bleeding; improve mood, energy and milk supply; and provide important micronutrients, such as iron, there's no evidence that eating the placenta provides health benefits. Placentophagy can be harmful to you and your baby.
Can I Donate My Placenta After Birth? Yes, birth tissue includes the placenta, umbilical cord, and amniotic fluid. All of these tissues can be donated after birth and they helped to nourish your baby while you were pregnant and are normally discarded after birth.
It is YOUR placenta, not the hospital's. You can keep it if you wish! 2. Put it in writing - make a note of it in your birth plan, discuss it with your care provider and have them put it in your notes.
At BC Women's, our goal is to make sure your care is safe. If you choose to take your placenta home, you and your family should know about the risks and the right way to handle your placenta. The placenta is a perfect place for germs to grow. Germs can cause infection and make people sick.
In most cases it is fine to take your placenta home for burial or consumption as long as you follow the basic health and safety precautions that are explained below. There are no laws or guidelines regarding the consumption of your placenta but there are precautions you can take to protect for your health and safety.
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.
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.
The nutrients that have passed from mother to foetus over months of pregnancy are, some believe, still packed inside the bloody organ and should not be wasted. Instead, the raw placenta could provide just what the mother needs as she recovers from childbirth and begins breastfeeding. And that means eating it.
By storing Placental Cells and Amnion alongside your baby's umbilical cord blood and tissue, you can maximise the number and types of cell your child has access to, ensuring they can take advantage of as many therapeutic options as possible.
In most cases, as long as you start your discussion long before baby arrives and make arrangements for safe passage, it can be yours. "It is your placenta, you should be able to do with it as you choose, in a safe way," Otunla says.
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.
Preparing the placenta for consumption by mothers is considered traditional among Vietnamese and Chinese people. The Chinese believe a nursing mother should boil the placenta, make a broth, then drink it to improve her milk.
The fee charged by encapsulation specialists for processing human placenta in a woman's home is typically $60 - $90. Although human placentophagy entails the consumption of human tissue by a human or humans, its status as cannibalism is debated.
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.
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.
But placentophagy -- the practice of eating one's placenta after birth -- is relatively common in China, where it is thought to have anti-ageing properties, and dates back more than 2,000 years.
State regulations allow parents to keep their baby's placenta, said state Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Maggie Carson. Some parents may want them for a post-birth ritual, she said. "But it is never acceptable to put placenta into the sewer system," Carson said. "Never."
In her experience working with clients, "some hospitals want to hold the placenta anywhere from 24 to 72 hours, and some want the placenta out of the hospital within a couple of hours." If you deliver at a freestanding birth center you may find not just cooperation with your wish, but enthusiastic support for placenta ...
Does delivering the placenta hurt? Delivering the placenta feels like having a few mild contractions though fortunately, it doesn't usually hurt when it comes out. Your doctor will likely give you some Pitocin (oxytocin) via injection or in your IV if you already have one.
The placenta is generally considered to be medical waste, and if a patient doesn't articulate that she wants to keep the placenta, it's disposed of in accordance with hospital policy.
After your midwife examines your placenta, they can place it into a food-grade container (a lidded glass container or double-bagged in gallon-sized Ziplock bags) that you've already set out with your birth supplies. The placenta can then be stored in the refrigerator as soon as possible.
No mothers in human history ate their own placentas before the 1970s.
You'll push the placenta out once it has separated and moved down to your vagina. It's mostly used if you're at low risk of heavy blood loss. You can change to active management at any time if needed.