According to an article, a fad among celebrities including Kim and Kourtney Kardashian and January Jones, is to eat your own placenta, obviously, after birth.
I'm gagging and wretching along with you. Right along with you. You're not going to believe most of this, but it's for real.
The Centers for Disease Control issued a warning telling people not to eat their placenta.
Eating the placenta was thought to ease the distress of postpartum women, but there's no science to support that contention. Despite NO EVIDENCE that it has any health benefits, this practice has gone mainstream with a number of YouTube videos showing how to prepare placenta, cook placenta or turn it into a milkshake. [If only you could see my face. I feel my eyebrows furrowing and now, my stomach is churning. I've got a bit of a chill going on. I think I'm coming down with a serious case of disgust.]
One article I read referenced a recipe book called 25 Placenta Recipes-Easy and Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Placenta! I looked it up on amazon.com and the reviews aren't bad.
I'm gagging and wretching along with you. Right along with you. You're not going to believe most of this, but it's for real.
The Centers for Disease Control issued a warning telling people not to eat their placenta.
Eating the placenta was thought to ease the distress of postpartum women, but there's no science to support that contention. Despite NO EVIDENCE that it has any health benefits, this practice has gone mainstream with a number of YouTube videos showing how to prepare placenta, cook placenta or turn it into a milkshake. [If only you could see my face. I feel my eyebrows furrowing and now, my stomach is churning. I've got a bit of a chill going on. I think I'm coming down with a serious case of disgust.]
One article I read referenced a recipe book called 25 Placenta Recipes-Easy and Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Placenta! I looked it up on amazon.com and the reviews aren't bad.
Photo from amazon.com
If you don't want to prepare your own, companies will turn it into convenient capsules. The placenta is cleaned, dehydrated, ground down and put into capsules.
This is not a regulated process and infectious bacteria within the placenta itself is likely not heated to the point where all of the bacteria is killed. So, there's THAT...
This is not a regulated process and infectious bacteria within the placenta itself is likely not heated to the point where all of the bacteria is killed. So, there's THAT...
Let's talk about the facts for not eating your own placenta as offered by the Centers for Disease Control:
- Eating your placenta has no benefit
- Eating your placenta may be dangerous for your child if you're nursing.
- In Portland, Oregon, a baby came down with an infection that was likely caused by placenta capsules.
- Don't use placenta capsules.
Photo credit to Tussey Landscaping
We followed the Cherokee tradition after our son was born. We had to sign a bunch of forms to get the placenta which was initially refused to us until I explained, firmly, that it was my body part and I was entitled to it. The only way I got it was by addressing my ancestry and that, by keeping my placenta, they were violating my cultural rights. Yeah, it's like that...
Taking a placenta home was not something people did according to the frenzy I observed and by the fact that special papers were created just for us. But, they put the placenta in a pathology bucket and we took it home and put it in the freezer. We bought a St. Mary's Magnolia (love the irony here) and once the bris took place, we defrosted the placenta and put everything in the bottom of the hole and planted the tree. Our gardener was confused, poor dear. He just kept shaking his head and saying, "muy loco", but he loved the baby, had kids of his own and knew how important traditions are to a family. He smiled the whole time. A good sport. I would have loved to hear him tell that story!
However, and here's where you'll fall down. I explained to the mohel about the blending of the two cultures and told him where the "part" would be placed. He smiled quietly and said to me, "If the tree blooms penises, call me".
We loved the fact that the "home" that once nurtured our baby boy, now gave life to a tree. And no, there were no "such" blooms! Just wonderful sweet memories every time we saw those enormous white blossoms. And yes, now I'm smiling.
Life is good, Claudia
Join me on Facebook at Dr. Claudia McCulloch
Taking a placenta home was not something people did according to the frenzy I observed and by the fact that special papers were created just for us. But, they put the placenta in a pathology bucket and we took it home and put it in the freezer. We bought a St. Mary's Magnolia (love the irony here) and once the bris took place, we defrosted the placenta and put everything in the bottom of the hole and planted the tree. Our gardener was confused, poor dear. He just kept shaking his head and saying, "muy loco", but he loved the baby, had kids of his own and knew how important traditions are to a family. He smiled the whole time. A good sport. I would have loved to hear him tell that story!
However, and here's where you'll fall down. I explained to the mohel about the blending of the two cultures and told him where the "part" would be placed. He smiled quietly and said to me, "If the tree blooms penises, call me".
We loved the fact that the "home" that once nurtured our baby boy, now gave life to a tree. And no, there were no "such" blooms! Just wonderful sweet memories every time we saw those enormous white blossoms. And yes, now I'm smiling.
Life is good, Claudia
Join me on Facebook at Dr. Claudia McCulloch
