Placenta: It’s What’s For Dinner
More and more women are asking us about the benefits of ingesting their own placentas after their birth. The practice is becoming more well known, CBS just did a story on it. The benefits are considered worth the yuck factor; better milk supply, reduced postpartum depression and more balanced hormones in the weeks following birth.
There are some intriguing recipes that you can try- the simplist is to just dehydrate it and put it in capsules. Many of our clients bury their placenta and plant a tree or shrub to commemorate their baby’s birth.
What did you do with your placenta?
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I ate a piece raw, right after the birth — the piece was about the size of my thumb. I rinsed all the blood off, and then held it under my tongue for a minute; then I swallowed it whole. (Didn’t taste like anything at all!)
I cut about fifteen more chunks out of it and put them in the freezer; I’ve been thawing them and putting them in smoothies every few days. For what it’s worth, I’ve been feeling really good postpartum this time, no depression or anxiety, milk supply excellent, very quick recovery energy-wise.
That’s fabulous! Did you have a problem with milk supply with your last baby? I think that it makes physiologic sense that the nutrients in the placenta (the organ that fed the baby in utero) would be perfectly suited to keep feeding the baby by increasing milk supply.
I took pictures of my placenta, which people thought was strange enough. If I had known it would help boost my milk supply, I definitely would have found a way to ingest it though! My son has thankfully been exclusively breastfed (well, he gets food now, but never formula) for 9 months (even though I work and go to school and sometimes don’t see him for 17 hours a day) but my supply is always on the brink of disaster. I had no supply with my first baby thanks to the c-section that ripped him from my body and wasn’t able to breastfeed at all, so I’m thankful for what I do have with baby #2. Perhaps I’ll try this whole placenta-eating thing with baby #3. if/when there is one.
Speaking of placentas. One of my clearest memories of our first home birth was when you gave me a full post birth tour of it. It was fascinating to see the two sides, the vein structure and sack that held my daughter for those 9 months. Something I had never thought much about became very real and much appreciated. Thanks Brynne.
I too enjoyed the tour of the placenta; it made it into my birth story. Thanks, Brynne! It has made two moves with us – in a freezer. It might be the best-traveled placenta ever – Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, . . . next. . .? I’m still looking for the right place to bury it under a tree when we settle down and still hoping we don’t have any power outages so it’ll stay frozen!
why would someone want to eat their own placenta? I have never heard of this before??? and straight after birth? what is this world coming to?
It’s nutritious and delicious. I recommend a red wine marinade for 1 to 1 1/2 days in the fridge, covered. That tenderizes it and gives it flavor. Then cut into pieces and brown it in a little oil. Then cook it with the marinade, spices of your choice, and some vegetables. I like mine with potatoes, garlic, carrots, olive oil. I always felt quite rejuvenated by eating the placenta. Farm animals almost always eat it. For an excellent detailed recipe, see Anne Frye’s textbook: Holistic Midwifery Volume II Care During Labor and Birth (Labrys Press). Only one of my clients who ate their placenta ever had any postpartum depression of any kind.
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