page_title: Human placentophagy
section_title: Modern placentophagy
hierarchical_section_title: Human placentophagy / Modern placentophagy
caption_attribution_description: A slice of a placenta, baby side up. Note the blob of clotted blood. Recipes here: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Placenta
context_page_description: Human placentophagy, or consumption of the placenta, is defined as "the ingestion of a human placenta postpartum, at any time, by any person, either in raw or altered form". Numerous historical occurrences of placentophagy have been recorded throughout the world, whereas modern occurrences of placentophagy are rare since most contemporary societies do not promote its practice. Since the 1970s, however, consumption of the placenta believing that it has health benefits has been a growing practice among clients of midwives and alternative-health advocates in the U.S. and Mexico.
  Human placentophagy is undergoing a small revival in Western cultures, fostered by celebrities like January Jones. Human placentophagy after childbirth is touted by some as a treatment for postpartum depression and fatigue, among other health benefits, given its high protein, rich iron and nutrient content. However, scientific research is inconclusive as to whether consuming the placenta prevents or treats postpartum depression or to any other health benefits. The risks of human placentophagy are also still unclear.
context_section_description: Modern practice of placentophagy is rare, as most contemporary human cultures do not promote its consumption. Placentophagy did receive popular culture attention in 2012, however, when American actress January Jones credited eating her placenta as helping her get back to work on the set of Mad Men after just six weeks.
  
  Midwife and 2011 CNN Hero of the Year Robin Lim, founder of Yayasan Bumi Sehat birthing center and author, accounts for the medical use of eating a small portion of the placenta accompanied by some honey to successfully control postpartum hemorrhage. This technique has seemed to work successfully even after typical administration of herbs or pitocin only temporarily stopped bleeding. 
  Instances of placentophagy have been recorded among certain modern cultures.  In the 1960s "male and female Vietnamese nurses and midwives of Chinese and Thai background consum[ed] the placentas of their young, healthy patients" for reasons unspecified, as reported by a Czechoslovakian medical officer in at the Hospital of Czechoslovak-Vietnamese Friendship in Haiphong. Placentas were stripped of their membranous parts and fried with onions before being eaten.
  A more recent cross-cultural ethnographic study by researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas surveyed 179 contemporary human societies, and identified only one culture (Chicano, or Mexican-American) that mentioned the practice of maternal placentophagy. This account, centering on Chicano and Anglo midwifery in San Antonio, Texas, stated, "cooking and eating part of the placenta has…been reported by a couple of midwives. One Anglo mother ... was reported to have roasted the placenta." This instance, however, may not be indicative of any larger cultural trends, as no other records of placentophagy were found in the Chicano culture.  This same study also recorded three references of non-maternal placentophagy:
  Traditional Gullah medicine dictates that when a baby is born with a caul, with amniotic membranes over the face at birth, the placenta is made into a tea and then consumed by the child to "prevent them from seeing spirits that would otherwise haunt [them]".
  Practice of paternal placentophagy was identified in the Malekula of Melanesia.  "In Espiritu Santo, the new father [eats] a pudding made from the cooked placenta and blood."
  Oral administration of the placenta was reported in Sino-Vietnamese medicine to aid the recovery of those suffering from tuberculosis.
  In a follow-up study, the UNLV researchers were joined by colleagues at the University of South Florida, and surveyed women who had engaged in maternal placentophagy previously. Of the 189 placentophagic women surveyed, the researchers found that 95 percent of participants had "positive" or "very positive" subjective experiences from eating their own placenta, citing beliefs of "improved mood", "increased energy", and "improved lactation". The authors themselves, however, state that "exceedingly little research has been conducted to assess these claims and no systematic analysis has been performed to evaluate the experiences of women who engage in this behavior."
  Recent examples of placentophagy in the popular media include Time Magazine’s "Afterbirth:  It’s What’s for Dinner", and USA Today’s "Ingesting the placenta: Is it healthy for new moms?"
caption: A slice of placenta, being prepared for consumption.
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