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From the lens Eating the Placenta After Giving Birth - Is It Tasty OR Taboo?.

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  • floppypoppygifts Mar 18, 2012 @ 12:02 pm | delete
    Great lens, informative & helpful for any mother researching this option-I think Lotus births are not that out of the ordinary. Many moms are into leaving the placenta attached for a little while at least during their hospital stay. Days and days seems a bit much to me, though!
  • Kowgirl Mar 2, 2012 @ 11:06 pm | delete
    We live to learn and this was quiet a lesson. Never heard of humans eating the placentas.
    Often wondered why animals did, now thanks to your lens I know. Thanks again for the information. What sounds gross to some (me included) is natural to others.
  • charlb Mar 1, 2012 @ 2:41 am | delete
    I had never heard of placenta eating before. Well done on the informative article. Very well written and I like the way it is written with an open mind and from various angles. I don't have kids myself and I know that the placenta is very important for the baby but I don't think that in this day and age with all the nutrients a mother can take we really need to ingest it or do something fancy with it. Maybe would consider the tree planting, maybe.
  • VisFeminea Feb 29, 2012 @ 8:02 am | delete
    Love it! I still have my (ok my babies) placenta in the freezer. We plan to plant a (placenta) Family Tree ;)
  • PregnancyByWeeks Jan 1, 2012 @ 2:36 am | delete
    Placenta can be preserved and can be used for curing so many body part failure in the baby body happens in the future. Though it is costly to preserve that, it is worth doing incase if a baby has any defects in the birth.Pregnancy By Weeks
  • srioschavez Dec 23, 2011 @ 10:47 am | delete
    Ok to each their own but ewww
  • 4liberator Dec 3, 2011 @ 3:25 am | delete
    Very Catchy Title,,,,,,, I have to say I really though I needed to look for a trash can when I saw this........
  • just_looking_for_answers_too Nov 7, 2011 @ 10:12 am | delete
    There's limited scientific research on this topic, however it is growing. Post-partum depression is finally getting the attention that it needs, and placenta encapsulation is being looked at by a number of female doctors. Thank God!
    Firstly, for all you who think this is disgusting, it's understandable. For all you mothers who have never had to deal with anything other than feelings of love and affection for your children, count yourselves very very blessed. PPD is ugly, vile, and extremely embarrassing for mothers who are struck with it. Luckily, the world of science is FINALLY beginning to look at PPD treatments in other places than medication... and placenta supplements are beginning to look like proven treatments. It's looking like the hormones present during pregnancy, child-birth, and breastfeeding need to be balanced, not just present. For example, even if the hormones are all present, but their levels are really off, it can wreak havoc on the mother's emotions, sense of self, and in some cases can even cause complete psychosis. Scary stuff. If placenta capsules can prevent this in a mom, than we should be congratulating the ones who are supporting this movement.
    Here are some interesting links to look at REAL scientific research. (I'm sorry, but the FDA has some seriously vested interests in promoting medication over natural supplements... I'm not totally sold on their ruling on this topic. Any organization beginning with the word "Federal" is probably not totally devoted to purely scientific research.)

    Some great little abstracts:
    http://placentabenefits.info/research.asp

    Some personal stories:
    http://placentamom.weebly.com/index.html

    A study with rats...
    http://web.archive.org/web/20080101043727/http://cogprints.org/757/0/gustibus.htm

    This is perhaps the most to-the-point and user-friendly resource:
    http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/eating-placentas-cannibalism-recycling-or-health-food/

    As far as the God argument goes... does anyone really have an answer? God is great, and beyond us... who of us knows what His verdict on this would be. But if placentophagy can help women avoid wanting to murder their God-given children, it would seem like an excellent and MOST morally acceptable remedy.
  • FixbuttonHQ Oct 25, 2011 @ 2:42 pm | delete
    Whoaaaa..... I never even thought about it. I don't knw whether to be interested or grossed out. Awesome topic!
  • billfiddle Oct 18, 2011 @ 8:28 pm | delete
    wow! weird or what?! but learned a LOT so congrats on a work well done...:-)
  • DougAllen Sep 17, 2011 @ 11:52 pm | delete
    Wow! Never thought or heard of this practice. Great lens and very thought provoking!
  • Tipi Sep 2, 2011 @ 2:10 am | delete
    Whew, talk about going where no one has gone before!
  • workingmomwm Aug 26, 2011 @ 6:16 pm | delete
    Very interesting. I think that last poll should have a "maybe" option, though. I'm kind of on the fence as to whether or not eating the placenta is actually cannibalism ...
  • AJTyne Jul 2, 2011 @ 11:00 pm | delete
    Well-done lens. Very detailed. I don't think it's cannibalism unless you eat some other person's placenta (or other body part). But I do think it's gross and also not really helpful.
  • DaveHiggsVis May 17, 2011 @ 6:53 pm | delete
    Best quote from the above debate: "If God wanted you to eat it, it would come out breaded and deep fried." Major lolz!
  • FrankChapman May 8, 2011 @ 12:49 pm | delete
    I'm sure there is a time when this could be very beneficial, during famine, war, third world.
    Nature provides, but I had a hard time reading this.
  • Wedding_Mom Apr 26, 2011 @ 7:53 pm | delete
    VERY INTERESTING! I know that placenta is just the most wonderful thing since it supplies all the nutrients that a baby can get and I've also been well informed that some would burn their placenta and turn it into powder and dab it on the face because supposedly it is great on the skin. ChrisDay is so right the topic was handle with so sensitivity. Love reading your lens! Well done!
  • Senora_M Apr 17, 2011 @ 9:38 pm | delete
    Wow, interesting lens. I watched the movie The Business of Being Born by Ricki Lake and one of the moms froze her placenta. I was asking my husband what he thought she did with it. He thought it was gross. I haven't heard of eating it, but I heard that Matthew McConague (sp?) planted his girlfriend's placenta in the garden or something like that. Anyway, interesting lens.
  • UKGhostwriter Apr 8, 2011 @ 4:51 pm | delete
    Interesting and tasteful (no pun intended)
  • ChrisDay Feb 4, 2011 @ 10:25 am | delete
    Bravely and sensitively handled for such a tricky and individual subject.
  • ChrisDay Feb 4, 2011 @ 10:24 am | delete
    Many species eat the placenta - even herbivores. However, as a veggie family, we didn't opt for this. It is a very interesting topic and each individual must be guided by her own instincts at the time (which cannot be predicted, since hormonal changes at childbirth are overpowering).
  • Mujjen Jan 27, 2011 @ 7:19 am | delete
    This was so interesting! Think I could grasp the planting of a tree or something better than eating it. Nobody ever asked me before giving birth, though!
  • scar4 Jan 13, 2011 @ 1:04 am | delete
    I'd rather not eat placenta after giving birth. It's savage and disgusting.
  • hotbrain Dec 15, 2010 @ 10:54 pm | delete
    I see that the poll is 50-50 on whether eating the placenta is cannibalism. I sure hope our government doesn't ever decide to make a law about it because the debate and subsequent protests/marches would fill the news for months. Not to mention the court cases and the FDA becoming involved....
  • TWOnline2 Dec 13, 2010 @ 11:17 pm | delete
    i did not know this was something still done or even done at all these days
  • MommyArt Oct 12, 2010 @ 3:04 am | delete
    Because I did a very natural birth (at home, etc), I was reading all the stuff about it. A friend of mine, who also did an at-home birth said her midwife asked her, "Do you want me to cook the placenta for you?" She said she politely, but rapidly, declined.

    While I don't think the umbilical cord should be cut immediately after the baby is born, I don't go for the lotus birth option, either. We left the placenta attached for around 6-8 hours after each of our children were born (long enough for me to sleep).

    First one we buried in the yard, second just went out with the trash, since we didn't have a yard anymore...

    Great lens, reminds me of some things I wanted to forget about the whole birthing experience, but in a manner that doesn't make me want to keep forgetting it. Smile!
  • daoine Feb 10, 2011 @ 5:20 pm | delete
    That is considered a lotus birth, MommyArt :-) Or at least a partial lotus. Ours was lotus for 12 hours.
  • Yourshowman Oct 4, 2010 @ 10:19 am | delete
    Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
  • southshoretees May 15, 2010 @ 9:41 am | delete
    I think I'd rather have something that wasn't once an organ in my own body, but call me crazy. I think placenta eating is just gross. This lens, on the other hand, is a great idea for a debate. Well done!
  • noxid25 Feb 14, 2010 @ 8:01 pm | delete
    This is a great lens! I had heard about the idea of eating them, but never understood why. I still would not eat it, however I do regret not keeping them from my boys to plant trees in their names.
  • LeanneChesser Feb 7, 2010 @ 2:21 pm | delete
    Wow. Congratulations on your purple star. Blessed by an angel. This is definitely a unique and educational lens. Really great job.
  • _Joan_ Nov 15, 2009 @ 10:37 am | delete
    Great lens! Congratulations on your purple star!

    I made placenta prints after each of my babies' births, and then I composted the placentas.
  • fafas Oct 3, 2010 @ 6:30 pm | delete
    ewwwww u canable it is a useless peice of waste ur kids would puke in their mouthes if the knew this and they would never go in your garden u are a creeper
  • lyjusinski Nov 13, 2009 @ 11:58 am | delete
    Just heard about a man who makes placenta into teddy bears by curing and tanning it like leather. Not my cup of tea, but it reminded me of this lens. Ick.
  • Pukeko Nov 12, 2009 @ 10:51 pm | delete
    Yuck. And Blessed by this angel. (if you want, you can add your link at Angel Blessings from Pukeko)
  • lyjusinski Oct 6, 2009 @ 1:51 pm | delete
    Great lens. Although the topic makes me a bit squeamish, you really presented it in a good way that made it easy to understand.
  • PreCap2 Jun 14, 2009 @ 11:55 am | delete
    Eat placenta? That's amazing in many ways. The animals eat theirs raw, would you cook it for the mother? I think cooking would reduce it to just meat, and may have adverse effect on the new born. If we want to imitate animal, we should do it without reserve.
    I've traveled to many countries in 4 continents and have heard about eating placenta, but I've not had the grace to witness it. One day I will.
    To get free treatment recipe for many ailments from several countries and research updates Check Out
  • CCGAL Jun 4, 2009 @ 10:22 pm | delete
    Wow, you certainly found a polarizing topic - I have to say you did an excellent job of presenting it in a (forgive me in advance for this horrible pun) tasteful manner.

    I know some animals eat their placentas, but I think it's more to keep predators from finding the babies than it is for nourishment. I mean, animals also eat their baby's feces, and I sure don't want to do THAT, either! Both instincts protect the young while they cannot fend for themselves; I would hope humanity has evolved beyond that.

    I know there were hippies in the 60's who got that idea, but I honestly had no idea anybody was still doing anything like that now. I know I would not, nor would I encourage anyone to do so. **shudders**
  • WonderWoman666 Aug 10, 2011 @ 4:21 pm | delete
    I shudder at your thoughtless pun, ccgal. I mean, what does that stand for anyway? Cross cultured gal? Crazy Cowgirl gal? (a bit redundant don't you think?) Comely C-section gal? (in which case we don't need boasting about your post natal pelvic area.) In any case, it was in incredibly poor taste for you to use this forum to exercise your flabby sense of human (which clearly has not healed its stretch marks).
  • rebeccachan May 31, 2009 @ 10:22 pm | delete
    It is getting common in Asia but i guess it is the thought of will i be eating my own placenta when it is encapsule ?????

    I think i would rather plant it....
  • Treasures-By-Brenda May 12, 2009 @ 1:16 pm | delete
    Nicely done lens on a sensitive topic; blessed by an angel.
  • Placenta-thought-warrior Aug 10, 2011 @ 4:14 pm | delete
    Thanks Brenda. I do feel blessed. I worry a little about the nature of this debate and the cannibalism analogies. You're right to point out the sensitivity of the topic, but I'd like to hear you engage the ethical and aesthetic issues a little more because you seem to be very intuitive, just from your name and your brief thoughts already--here and elsewhere.
  • Kim Mosny CPM, LM May 9, 2009 @ 6:15 pm | delete
    Love this WHOLE page about placentophagy!!
  • Heather426 Apr 27, 2009 @ 12:37 am | delete
    very well done on a sensitive topic. I would have had mine ground up in pills if given the option. Some of my daughter's friends have given me some of theirs(in capsules) and I loved how I felt afterward...since it is done in Nature, it is natural, in my mind. 5*
  • MysticTurtle Apr 16, 2009 @ 11:18 am | delete
    Great lens! Interesting subject. Don't know if I could do it, but no problem if anyone wants to.
  • rms Apr 15, 2009 @ 12:01 pm | delete
    okay... eeew. LOL Great Hey Monkeybrain topic though!
  • Jimmie Apr 15, 2009 @ 12:03 am | delete
    I hereby bless this lens.

    An amazing topic handled very, very well.
  • EverythingMouse Apr 14, 2009 @ 5:05 am | delete
    A sensitive treatment of a difficult subject. I have a friend who did eat her placenta. I see nothing wrong in it at all - each to their own!

    Squid Angel Blessings to you
  • clouda9 Apr 11, 2009 @ 11:48 pm | delete
    What I loved the most about your lens is how you presented it...your honest upfront thoughts and then giving us the opportunity to see it from all angles. I was drawn in because several years ago my good friend shared that she had eaten the placenta from each of her births...I'm guessing she did not elaborate any further when she saw that look on my face. We have not talked about it since. In hindsight, I think it would have been a beautiful tribute to our boy's births to plant their placenta with a tree! Thank you for this lens.
  • foreverme Apr 5, 2009 @ 8:45 pm | delete
    I have to agree with unique_freak77' comment. Though I knew animals did this, I had no idea people did but you certainly did do a good job of covering it and making it interesting. A side note to hlkljgk: So were babies. Not a practice to immitate.
  • papawu Mar 28, 2009 @ 12:36 pm | delete
    I believe myself to be openminded enough not to censure those who choose to eat the placenta. However, it is not a practice which I personally would participate in. I am a single guy anyway and have no children of my own so I am at a loss as to how I would triuly feel if I had a wife who wanted to do so after giving birth. I have been aware of this practice for quite some time though having seen it on either the news or a documentary many years ago, I do not remember which. However, I can honestly say that I lean more toward the disgusted and disturbed side on this topic.
  • clemency Mar 27, 2009 @ 6:49 am | delete
    Really interesting lens. I gave birth at home and had a good look at my placenta - it was one of the most fascinating things I had ever seen. But eating it?... Yuck!
  • spirituality Mar 26, 2009 @ 2:30 pm | delete
    Great lens - very unusual subject & well represented.
  • Pete Aug 23, 2010 @ 6:25 am | delete
    How long after the birth is it safe to eat the placenta? My partner gave birth on saturday afternoon and intends to make some smoothies from it but has not got back from hospital yet - she should be back later today. I brought the placenta home with me saturday evening but only just now (midday here) got around to putting it in the fridge ;(
    I may neglect to mention this fact to her, but obviously would not want to take any risks
  • kiwisoutback Mar 25, 2009 @ 8:55 pm | delete
    This is the most nauseating, desgusting lens I've ever seen. In other words, we have a winner! There was a story on the local Boston news a few years ago about a woman who gave birth on a train by herself and stuffed the placenta in her purse. Now that's good eatin'...not really. Great topic for a Hey Monkeybrain, that's for sure!
  • lollyj Mar 25, 2009 @ 7:13 am | delete
    Animals eat the placenta for a reason. It's quite nourishing. I could not eat a placenta but could certainly plant it.
    In the olden days when I was a student nurse -- before AIDS and many current viruses -- the delivery room staff saved placentas in a big freezer. Once a week the placentas were delivered to a lab that made gamma globulin out of it. I thought that was a wonderful idea.
    Interesting lens. 5 to you.
  • unique_freak77 Mar 24, 2009 @ 2:48 pm | delete
    Interesting, if not slightly disturbing, topic. You did a great job of covering it though! :) Great lens, 5*!
  • hlkljgk Mar 23, 2009 @ 7:45 pm | delete
    placenta - Latin: flat cake; cakelike mass
    http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/1683

    i believe it was also eaten in food scarce times.

by

enslavedbyfaeries

No, I have never eaten placenta, but I am fascinated in learning what you think about this bizarre practice.

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