Placenta Hazardous to Your Health?

Placenta Hazardous to Your Health?

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

filed under: suzanne gilberg-lenz

Our OB/GYN gives her verdict.

Last week, we told you about the woman who cooked up her placenta and served it on pasta and in a panini after giving birth. Is this dangerous?

Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz says:

Basically, it is fine to consume the placenta -- and many traditional cultures advocate the use of the placenta for obvious reasons. The placenta is chock full of iron (lots of blood in there) and hormones, too. During pregnancy, many women develop anemia, a low iron and blood cell state, from a combination of the fetus preferentially getting iron and from dilution of red blood cells by increased fluid volume in Mom. Additionally, women experience a fairly sizable blood loss at delivery and this contributes to their need to increase iron in the post-partum period.

Theoretically, there may be a hormonal benefit to consumption of the placenta -- the placenta is full of hormones and, if they are consumed, this could help "balance" women in the post-partum period. But valuing this concept requires respect for understanding of non-western traditional medicine paradigms -- very different conceptually and in practice from conventional Western medicine's constructs. (I am a big believer, by the way, in integrated approaches and respect for modes of thinking and healing that have persisted for thousands of years.) Of course, if this does not resonate with Mom, there is no reason to adopt the practice -- eating your own placenta with a grimace of disgust on your face is no way to start the journey of motherhood!

As long as the mother from whom the placenta is derived was not sick with a serious infection during labor and does not have any transmittable infectious disease such as hepatitis or HIV, it is perfectly safe to eat the placenta or anything made from it. It is intended as a rejuvenative for the post-partum mother. Hospitals or birthing centers usually have guidelines for the release of the placenta to the mother that include the aforementioned safety provisions. and many traditionally trained health practitioners such as doctors of Chinese medicine, can dehydrate it and make capsules out of the placenta -- which may be more palatable for Western chicks or those who don't crave baked ziti and placenta.

What do you think about eating the placenta? Did you eat yours?

Placenta Gallery

Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz completed her undergraduate education at Wesleyan University and post-baccalaureate pre-med studies at Mills College. She earned her medical degree from the USC School of Medicine and has been in private practice for 8 1/2 years. She lives in Los Angeles and is the mother of two.

18 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

I did it. And no one will ever know. And I recovered really fast (6th baby) and it was my first pregnancy where I had absolutely NO post-partum depression. I dried it out like beef jerky & ground it into powder with a coffee grinder, then put it into capsules. I never once had crying fits or depression, this has been the happiest postpartum experience ever. After 6 kids, I was finally able to enjoy a newborn.

- Anonymous

Posted 04/13/09 04:39 PM

i think its totally disgusting we are not animals there is plenty of others things to eat out there

- Anonymous

Posted 04/13/09 04:47 PM

My midwife discussed it with us, but I opted not to eat it. The birth at home in a tub of water was a big enough leap for me this time. We buried the placenta in our garden though, so it could nourish the soil for our summer veggies.

- Lisa B

Posted 04/13/09 04:57 PM

I’m going to reserve judgment on this one, but I could seriously do without the pictures. I just about threw up.

- Jill (the other one)

Posted 04/13/09 05:10 PM

We are not animals? LOL! Sorry people but we are animals.

- Pamala

Posted 04/13/09 05:24 PM

The pictures are making me nauseous. Ugh.

- Anonymous

Posted 04/13/09 05:37 PM

Okay, those pictures are seriously gross. However, we actually ARE animals. We’re mammals and historically yes women have eaten the placenta. I personally don’t see any problem with it. If I were to do it myself I would probably do as the first commenter. Keep it secret and do it capsule style. I certainly don’t think women should feel any pressure to do it, but I also don’t think they should be scrutinized for choosing to do so.

- Angela @ Lost In Splendor

Posted 04/13/09 06:56 PM

this is seriously disgusting!

- Anonymous

Posted 04/13/09 07:24 PM

Really, enough is enough with the shock images… who can focus on the article with these pictures. Take them down, momlogic!

- Lisa

Posted 04/13/09 08:34 PM

You forgot to mention that cooking it kills most of the health benefits you gain by eating it…

- Bec Thomas

Posted 04/13/09 10:35 PM

I had planned to give my placenta to someone who would dry it, grind it and put it into capsules. Unfortunately, my son was 5 weeks early again (so was the last one) and although the hospital let me keep the placenta, it was forgotten in all the hullabaloo and sat out for a day. I didn’t want to risk eating it, so it’s in the freezer. When we get moved into a permanent house, I’ll plant it in the garden.

- Katie | Runawayoctober

Posted 04/14/09 11:20 AM

I didn’t eat my placenta but I wouldn’t judge someone who did. We are mammals and it is natural for mammals to eat the placenta. I don’t doubt that there are some benefits to it. Mommy wars have to stop and this is one of the more extreme ones. Who cares if someone wants to eat their placenta? What business is it of ours?

- Absolute

Posted 04/14/09 03:51 PM

Nobody has mentioned what it tastes like?

- beautyscientist

Posted 04/14/09 04:40 PM

I never considered eating my placenta but I did want to keep it. Unfortunetly, my husband wouldn’t let me keep it. He thought it was strange. He was looking at it from a medical proffessionals point of view and saw it as something that should stay at the hospital.

- Melanie

Posted 04/14/09 05:05 PM

Absolute: It becomes our business when they splash it all over the media. When you purposely seek the attention of the masses, it’s no longer a private matter. Expect to be criticized. We are indeed mammals, but we are not animals in the sense that we have a concept of hygiene. At least most of us do. The eating of any part of human flesh is technically cannibalism. At least those of you who feel the need to eat waste byproducts will never suffer in a famine.

- Gail Cooke

Posted 04/14/09 06:41 PM

For the love of God, MomLogic, take the pictures down! I’m sick of gagging every time I log on to the site.

- Jill (the other one)

Posted 04/14/09 07:09 PM

i dont know how the pics are so gross, how many of you would even know what it was if it didnt say? most of you probably eat fast food like mcdonalds n such which who knows what that is really made out of. but most people dont care b/c they have been brainwashed to think whats right is awful, and to think whats wrong, like murder is entertaining. i think its much more logical to eat it than to sit around being depressed or taking depression pills that our ‘precious’ government made for us. i plan on eating my placenta as long as the hospital gives it to me.

- Anonymous

Posted 04/27/09 06:49 PM

I ate a chunk of mine in a strawberry/banana smoothie this past week, directly after giving birth to my second son. I was very weepy with my first, and have not been this time around. The rest of the placenta is in the freezer, to bury this summer, but if I start getting signs of PPD-I won’t hesitate to have another smoothie. And by the way….you couldn’t taste it.

- Anonymous

Posted 05/09/09 03:52 PM