Placenta Anyone?

Placenta consumption has been happening since the beginning of time. Animals eat their placenta after giving birth as a means of nourishment as well as to hide the scent from predators. Humans have been consuming placenta for a plethora of different benefits!

So, what are these magical benefits you ask? Ok, they're not magical.....but they're pretty damn amazing. I won't list them all, but I'll touch on a few.

1. "She's bleeding out!" Let's start from immediately after birth. In countries where there may be little access to proper medical care, women discovered that placing a piece of the placenta between the gums and cheek of the mouth would help stop hemmorhaging. This is a life saving benefit!

2. "Got milk?" One of the top 2 reasons people want to consume their placenta is for milk production. Now some people may argue that consuming the pacenta will hinder breastmilk production because once the placenta leaves the body, that is a signal to start making milk. By putting the placenta back into the body, some doctors feel it would give you the opposite result. Studies show that by the time the placenta passes through the body, those hormones that would hinder milk production are in such small amounts that it would have no effect; whereas the other hormones come in larger amounts and would benefit the establishment of a healthy milk supply.

3. "Got the blues?" Well if you do, let me start by saying that consuming your placenta by no means should replace medication or real treatment that may be needed for postpartum depression. Now that we've got that out of the way, placenta consumption can help stabilize those wacky hormones in the postpartum period. I personally can tell when I've skipped a dose. I'm one krabby patty. (I couldn't help myself on that one) Having my placenta has definitely helped me cope with my emotions after not having the birth that I wanted. (See my other blog post)

4. "Oh the agony" Childbirth is no walk in the park. It can leave you sore and in pain, especially if you've had a cesarean. Luckily you have your good ole friend placenta to help you out. Yup, consuming your pacenta can help relieve pain. It can also work alongside your pain medication so that you don't need to take as much. Amazing right? I know!

So how does one "consume" their placenta? Well, the most common way is capsules. Outside of that there are tinctures, smoothies, truffles (yes truffles. Like chocolate truffles), soups, and more. I could go on about placenta for days really! Unfortunately my kids are about to kill each other so I guess I'd better go adult now.

Thank you for reading!