Placenta A La King ~ A P.S.A.

Every time I consent a laboring woman to a research study, I tell them that if they want to keep their placenta, the selection we cut and keep is less than a cubic inch - so there's still plenty left over to eat. Well I don't actually use the word eat but you get the idea.

Some mom's like to eat their placentas.

The placenta is the organ that develops in order to lend oxygen and nutrients to a growing baby during pregnancy. It sits against the uterine wall and provides the fetus a flow of blood through the umbilical vein within the umbilical cord. Many mammals consume their placenta as a routine part of the birthing process. When we people do it, it's called human placentophagy. And it's a bit controversial.

Now most of these women aren't frying the thing up, though that's an option if you so choose. There are now companies that will freeze dry, or otherwise process your placenta for you and create capsule pills to be taken daily. Some people believe that the nutrients in the placenta can help a mother recover from the physical and mental toll that pregnancy and recovery can take. A quick google search will show you many a mommy blog touting the positive effects.

"Cynics may claim a placebo effect, but I absolutely felt calmer, more relaxed, and at ease then I did before taking [the pills]."
https://www.xojane.com/healthy/why-placenta-encapsulation-is-the-smartest-post-partum-decision-i-could-have-made

The problem is that the placenta can contain a whole host of things other than just mom's own cells. It's home to a diverse microbiome (see links below). Additional external bacteria can be introduced after the rupture of membranes. If the placenta isn't heated to a high enough temperature when it's processed, some of these bacteria can hang around and end up in the pills. This can result in babies getting dangerously ill when they breastfeed. The CDC even came out and publicly warned women of the risk after an infant's infection.

"Trendy among some mothers, the practice of eating the placenta after giving birth is believed by some to help with postpartum depression, breast milk production and energy levels. It's taken off in the last decade, touted by some celebrity moms and promoted on the internet. Now tens of thousands of U.S. moms do it, according to a rough estimate by researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
But in an unusual report published Thursday, a group of doctors and health officials say the capsules appear to have caused an infant's illness in Portland, Oregon, last fall. The authors said moms should avoid taking them, noting that the making of placenta capsules is not regulated and there's no guarantee they are free of harmful germs."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-cdc-warns-against-placenta-pills-20170706-story.html

Because the FDA doesn't currently regulate the companies that are making these pills, it's difficult to be sure that best practices are being followed. However, the problem isn't inherent. Assuming proper heating, there's no reason this should be an issue. So look - if you want to eat your placenta, that's great! Just make sure you do your research.

If anyone has personal experience with the practice, please comment below!

Further reading:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-00664-8
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/237/237ra65
http://neoreviews.aappublications.org/content/15/12/e537
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11514-4
https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-017-0268-4