There are people who are simply repulsed by the simple idea of eating a piece of raw meat. For others, they are not so strange or far from our nature and there are even those who would dare with a viscera, with the placenta, prepared in different ways. In recent times we talk about it again: eat the placenta after birth, would you do it?
It is a practice carried out by most mammals, even those that are herbivores. That is why (and for other reasons that we will see next) there are those who claim that we also take it back to people. Let's take it back, because it's supposed to be thousands or millions of years ago our ancestors also ate the placenta after birth. At some point in evolution, perhaps due to cultural issues related to taboo, it stopped being done.
Recall that the placenta is a fundamental organ in pregnancy (it is an ephemeral organ), since it constitutes the vital connection of the baby with the mother, transmitting the necessary oxygen, hormones and nutrients to the fetus. Its name comes from Latin and means "flat cake", since it is the appearance it has in humans, as you can see in the photograph below.
At the end of pregnancy, the placenta is usually between a centimeter and a half and three inches thick, while its diameter is about 15-20 centimeters. It can weigh half a kilo, not counting the umbilical cord to which it is attached.
In traditional Chinese medicine the dry placenta is used for its strengthening properties, but in western cultural, placentophagy is more recent. Domestic mammalian animals have also lost the habit of eating the placenta, as happened to humans. But let's see what would be the benefits of eating the placenta and how is it prepared.
Does it have benefits to ingest the placenta after delivery?
Mammals that eat the placenta do so primarily to leave no trace to predators that there is a new defenseless offspring. Evidently, this function of hiding the traces of a recent birth does not make sense in our culture.
But there is also the hypothesis that it is done to catch energy after delivery and this is the reason given by people who take some placenta after delivery. Also that protects against postpartum depression and recover better after giving birth
However, a review of studies found no data to show that there are benefits to consuming the placenta after delivery.
How the placenta is prepared
People who eat the placenta do not do it as if it were a steak, but they make different recipes that provide vitamins and in which the placenta is "hidden". The first thing is that we must ask the midwife or gynecologist to save the placenta or ask permission for someone to manipulate it to make a smoothie (or milkshake). This does not mean that they give it to us, since in most hospitals they do not allow biological remains to be removed due to the danger of contamination if they are not properly destroyed.
Therefore Many times women who eat the placenta have given birth at home. But this practice is not totally foreign to hospitals, who knows if it will be extended more and more. Let's see examples.
In Oregon (United States) a law has recently entered into force that includes the right of women to take placentas from the hospital (meeting certain requirements).
In the United Kingdom there is even the Placenta Encapsulation Network (IPEN) which is responsible for collecting the organ when it leaves the uterus at birth, preparing that first milkshake and taking the rest of the placenta to dry it and encapsulate it (and this, as you can imagine, is not free).
So some women make smoothies or smoothies with a piece of the placenta (one or two cotyledons, which are the sections in which the placenta is divided) just after delivery, mixing it with fruits such as orange, banana, red fruits, melon, apple, beet, celery ... It can be sweetened with a little sugar .
There are those who dare with a raw piece, like a dice, and although they claim that it does not taste especially very different from beef, we must be tolerant of textures (it is elastic, similar to the heart). In stew, in sashami, with broccoli, spicy placenta ... are other ways to prepare this organ to consume it.
And in addition some women may ask to freeze the rest of the placenta to make capsules that they can continue taking later, even having a baby shower with family or friends (the "Placenta Party"). Other women prefer to do it in privacy. In any case, care should be taken so that the placenta does not have any bacterial contamination.
The testimonies of women who have ingested the placenta after birth mostly they say they felt strengthened (although it is not known if more than what it feels like with a good chicken stock) and even attribute the fact of not suffering from postpartum depression to this act.
Although, most (and I include myself here), they would be unable to drink or eat a small piece of placenta, however disguised it is and because they do not trust its properties since they are not scientifically proven or they believe that these supposed benefits are also achieved through other procedures that do not involve eating this organ after delivery.
Some women show the fact of eating the placenta a more emotional and emotional attitude than health (although normally they are combined) and sometimes it is not intended to eat the placenta but, to "dignify" this organ and give it a second life, the pieces are buried in a garden.
What place are you in? After knowing a little more about this practice, Would you eat the placenta after delivery? Would you be able to do it for example in capsules? Or better stay in the hospital?
Photos | iStock
In Babies and more | What is the placenta, The benefits of ingesting the placenta
