What is the point of eating the placenta after giving birth?

Von STYLEBOOK | Jun 13, 2022 11:09 am

While some shake with disgust at the very idea, others swear by eating the placenta in a wide variety of forms – a topic on which opinions differ greatly. STYLEBOOK asked gynecologist and placenta researcher Dr. Alex Farr from the University Clinic for Gynecology at the Medical University of Vienna.

What is placentophagy?

The placenta – the tissue that supplies the fetus with oxygen and nutrition via the umbilical cord – reaches a diameter of between 15 and 20 centimeters during pregnancy and weighs up to 600 grams. If new mothers don’t simply dispose of their afterbirth after delivery, but save it for later consumption, this is called placentophagy.

Scientific drawing of a placenta. The placenta can be up to 20 centimeters in diameterFoto: Getty Images

Why do women eat their placenta?

Proponents promise better milk flow, faster regression, less pain and the prevention of placentophagy from placentophagy Baby Blues‘, which is medically known as postnatal or -partum depression. The consumption of the placenta is simply a natural process – animals would also eat the placenta to reabsorb the nutrients it contains.

In placentophagy, the placenta is pressed into capsules, processed into homeopathic globules or powder or processed with the help of various recipes. Interested parties can prepare the afterbirth raw, roasted, cooked or dehydrated; there are various instructions on the Internet. Some women even have whole placenta parties – with their placenta.

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How healthy is it to eat the placenta?

But does eating the afterbirth really make sense? dr Alex Farr has done research on the topic and has a clear position: no. “Because placentophagy is potentially harmful and has no proven benefit, physicians should advise against it,” the gynecologist writes in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In an interview with STYLEBOOK, the expert explains: “There is evidence that bacterial infections can be transmitted by eating the placenta. It also seems theoretically possible that viral diseases can be transmitted in this way. So far, however, we have hardly any reliable data on either of these.”

In addition, it is to be feared that heavy metals and toxins can be transferred back to the newborn via breast milk. These accumulate in the placenta during pregnancy. There was a case in the United States where a baby narrowly escaped death from blood poisoning, Farr said. This could be due to an eaten placenta.

However, Farr says, surveys of women taking placental capsules during childbirth have shown that the mothers experienced “overall health improvements, less pain, more energy, and improvements in breastfeeding.” However, the doctor is of the opinion that this is probably primarily a placebo effect. The women interviewed were supporters of placentophagy anyway.

“Medically a waste product”

The federal agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services issued a warning against ingesting the placenta in 2017 because infectious pathogens would not be adequately eliminated during encapsulation. Farr goes even further in a report from the Medical University of Vienna. Not only that there is no scientific evidence for the clinical benefit of placentophagy, “from a medical point of view, the placenta is a waste product”. And: “Since the placenta is genetically part of the newborn, eating the placenta borders on cannibalism.”

placental capsules — In China, the placenta was once traded as a remedy for impotence and infertility, but later the cosmetics industry relied on its supposed rejuvenating effects – but nothing has really been scientifically proven Foto: Getty Images

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How does the placenta taste?

In the interview, the gynecologist explains that the placenta on the mother’s side has a rough consistency, “rather like a dense, firm sponge.” On the side facing the baby, it is covered by the egg membrane and one can see vessels and the umbilical cord , which springs from it, see. However, he cannot say how the placenta tastes: “I have never eaten it and I have no intention of doing so. But I would assume it tastes more like liver or black pudding – though reportedly not very good.”

In the end, of course, it is up to each woman to decide how to deal with her afterbirth. In any case, planting is a nice alternative to eating: If you have a garden, you can bury the placenta in the ground and plant a tree on it.