Placentophagy

[[File:Goat_eating_placenta.jpg|thumb|165px|right|Mmmmm… [[goat]]y!]]{{altmed}}
'''Placentophagy''' (from 'placenta' + Greek φαγειν, to eat; also referred to as placentophagia) is the act of [[mammals]] eating the placenta of their young after [[childbirth]].<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20080101043727/http://cogprints.org/757/0/gustibus.htm Placentophagia: A Biobehavioral Enigma (or ''De gustibus non disputandum est'')] by Mark B. Kristal (1980) ''Neuroscience & Biohehavioral Reviews'', Vol. 4, pp. 141-150 (archived from January 1, 2008).</ref> It's also cropped up among a very small number of particularly nutty circles as a form of [[alternative medicine]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4918290.stm Why eat a placenta?] (Last Updated: Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 12:52 GMT 13:52 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref> There's also just about no record of the practice ever existing historically in any form other than [[New Age|modern Age of Aquarius]] [[woo]].<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1807646/?page=1 Notes on placentophagy] by W. B. Ober (1979) ''Bull. N. Y. Acad. Med. 55(6): 591–599.</ref> Even in the placentophagy tests that have been performed, there isn't any evidence that animals prefer eating the placenta to eating liver given to them by scientists as an alternative.<ref>[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dev.21208/abstract;jsessionid=BA0945B97866F9BF140403326618CA4A.f04t01?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false Placentophagia in weanling female laboratory rats] by Kaitlyn M. Harding & Joseph S. Lonstein ''Developmental Psychobiology'' Vol. 56, Issue 6, pp. 1290–1299, September 2014</ref> A 2015 review of placentophagy found no evidence of benefit, and there is a risk of consuming [[bacteria]] and [[virus]]es, particularly if the placenta is not your own.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33006384 Eating placenta 'does not benefit health'] June 4, 2015 ''BBC News''.</ref>

Eating a favorite meat dish after giving birth probably has the same benefits, such as they are, as placentophagy. The [[hippie]]-era ''Birth Book'' by Raven Lang (1972) has a lovely recipe for placenta
 [[Cannibalism#Popular culture|with some fava beans]] and a nice [[Wine|chianti]]
.

==China==
[[File:Ziheche.jpg|thumb|left|165px|Dried human placenta (紫河车, zǐ hé chē)]]
In [[traditional Chinese medicine]], [[human]] placenta has been used:<ref name=read>''Chinese Materia Medica: Animal Drugs'' by Bernard E. Read (1931). Peking Natural History Bulletin. Based upon the "''Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu''" [''Bencao Gangmu''] by Li Shih-Chen [Li Shizhen].</ref>
{{cquote|For anemia and emaciation. For general weakness in women, and black spots on the face.<br><br>
For all kinds of weakness in both sexes, for delirium and convulsions, and loss of [[will power]]. To quieten the heart, benefit the respiration and as a seminal tonic. For conjunctivitis and growth over the [[eyes]].}}

A liquified placenta that has been buried for several years, sometimes with other drugs, has been used:<ref name=read/>
{{cquote|For head-scabs in children, fevers, ceaseless attack of feverish chills, delirium. Given to quieten a patient whose hair stands up without cause. For constipation. To cure infectious diseases.}}

==Dangers==
Since a human placenta is dead human flesh, any bacteria that grow on it will be the bacteria that devour human flesh; there is a ''reason'' we have an instinctual aversion to "recycling".

In 2017, it was reported that an Oregon woman gave her placenta to a dehydrating company that returned to her the desiccated placenta in capsules for her to eat. After eating the capsules, the woman passed along a ''Streptococcus agalactiae'' infection to her baby, which was also present in the capsules.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6625a4.htm?s_cid=mm6625a4_e#contribAff Notes from the Field: Late-Onset Infant Group B Streptococcus Infection Associated with Maternal Consumption of Capsules Containing Dehydrated Placenta — Oregon, 2016] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ''MMWR'' June 30, 2017 / 66(25);677–678.</ref><ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/06/30/cdc-if-you-eat-your-placenta-this-can-happen/#4894a3a22216 CDC Case Report: If You Eat Your Placenta, This Can Happen] by Bruce Y. Lee (Jun 30, 2017 @ 06:00 AM) ''Forbes''.</ref>

A 2017 review in the ''American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology'' found that any benefits of placentophagy was limited to [[anecdotal evidence]], that there was no scientific evidence of benefit, and that due to the aforementioned risk of passing infection on to the baby, mothers should be discouraged from the practice by physicians.<ref>[http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(17)30963-8/abstract Human placentophagy: a review] by Alex Farr et al. (2017) ''American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology'', in press. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2017.08.016.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Lotus birth]], where the placenta is carried round in a little bag rather than being eaten
*[[Cannibalism]]
*[[Fun:Soylent Green]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category: Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Birth]]
[[Category:Chinese medicine]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Nature woo]]
[[Category:Woo]]

Categories:  Alternative medicine, Birth, Chinese medicine, Pseudoscience, Nature woo, Woo