A strange fad is becoming popular in the US and other western societies to eat your own placenta after you give birth. This strange practice has been promoted by birthing blogs and celebrities like January Jones and Kim Kardashian, who advertised this practice, claiming a wide range of benefits.
Although there is no evidence of these benefits, there are lots of online videos available describing the way to cook placenta, or to turn it into a milkshake. Moreover, there are also companies that convert human placenta into capsules.
Now, a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that eating placenta does not have any beneficial effects, but it may also be dangerous to the mother’s child. They warn that the placenta supplements may be contaminated with infectious pathogens.
The report follows a mother in Oregon, who had her placenta turned into pills. She gave birth to a healthy baby, but after she had been taking the capsules, her child fell ill. When capsules were tested, they found that they contain infectious bacteria.
As per the report, “Placenta ingestion has recently been promoted to postpartum women for its physical and psychological benefits, although scientific evidence to support this is lacking. No standards exist for processing placenta for consumption. The placenta encapsulation process does not per se eradicate infectious pathogens; thus, placenta capsule ingestion should be avoided.”
