New Moms Eating Placentas
New Moms Eating Placentas – New mothers in the US seem to be buying into the trend of eating the placenta after delivery because they believe that it can boost energy, produce healthy milk, and prevent post-partum depression. The trend is catching among Hollywood celebrities as well (Alicia Silverstone and January Jones).
Placenta provides the fetus with nutrients, oxygen and hormones via the umbilical cord during pregnancy, and some midwives are promoting placentophagy – the practice of eating the afterbirth as nutritious and healthful.
According to Claudia Booker, a midwife, the placenta can help restore a new mom’s body with vitamins, minerals, and hormones. Booker dehydrates and processes the placenta into pills for new mothers.
There are a few studies on the benefits of placentophagy, but the medical community, by and large, says that there is no evidence to support placentophagy. Women who have consumed their baby’s placenta say they experienced a reduction in fatigue, a n improvement in mood, and an increase in breast milk, and a faster recovery from childbirth.
In a survey, conducted in 2013, of 189 women who had consumed their babies’ placentas — raw, cooked or in capsule form — 95 percent reported their experience was either positive or very positive, and 98 percent said they would repeat the experience. But Daniel Benyshek, corresponding author of the study and associate professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, said that they’re not sure if the effects were a placebo effect or because of the women’spositive expectations. Benyshek said he was planning a double-blind pilot study that would compare the effects of placenta capsules and a placebo on women’s postpartum experiences.
So far, most of the evidence is favor of the benefits of eating placentas is anecdotal.
Category: News
