Eating the Placenta

Placentophagy is the act of a mammal eating the placenta after the birth. It is a beautiful and beneficial thing in the wild, but you probably wouldn't think of it happening with humans right? Well guess what! We're mammals too and consuming the placenta can be just as beneficial for us as it is for the animals in the wild. When I think back to my last birth experience and realize that my placenta was just thrown out as bio-hazardous waste, I get really upset.

First of all, the placenta contains a chemical called oxytocin. When this chemical is consumed, it triggers the uterus to contract back to its original size and thus remedies postpartum bleeding. It also stimulates mammary cells to contract and eject milk. Postpartum depression is lessened or eliminated all together. Of course there's the added benefit of iron and vitamins produced by your own body so why waste it? Why would such a gem of nutrients be thrown out in the trash?

There are many options of consumption. The most primal thing to do would be to eat it raw, but that's out of the question for me. I don't think I could hold it down if I did that. Then I could cook it as if I were cooking a piece of beef or liver, but what if I messed up the recipe? There's no re-do on that one! So I've found that my best option for consuming my placenta will be to have it processed into capsules that are about the same size as a standard vitamin.

A lot of people prefer to hire someone to do the processing. I'm going to check with my midwife and doula to see if they provide that service. If not, it appears to be pretty darned easy to do it myself so I'm gonna do more research and give it a try when the time comes. Basically, I'll preserve it by cooking the placenta with ginger, pepper and lemon, then slice into thin strips for drying on a low setting in the oven for about 8 hours. Once dry, I'll use a mortar and pestle to grind into a powder, put into capsules, then store it in the fridge.

I'm very excited about this and will be sure to document the whole process and post when the time comes so you can witness it for yourself! This will be a long way off, but a girl can dream, can't she? ;)