Placentaphagy

[scubamummy]

...i.e. the practice of eating the placenta after giving birth. I'm seriously considering it! There's a school of thought that eating it can help increase milk flow, reduce postpartum depression and help reduce postpartum bleeding. Which all sounds rather wonderful.

Anyone tried it? If so, did your midwife/doctor help you to collect/store it? How did you prepare it for eating? Did other people e.g. your DH eat it too?

I appreciate this is just too icky for some people but I am curious and keen to try. To me, it would seem like eating any other organ meat (but admittedly I haven't yet tried my own!).

I haven't, but wish I had with dd2 as it would've helped with my anaemia. We did at least keep it and bury it in the garden for some lucky trees. It's a lot easier to collect and keep it after a homebirth as lots of homebirthers do, so the midwives are not at all phased by it, also you don't have to doggy-bag it and transport it from hospital - I'm not sure what guidelines hospital staff have about that! Be interested to hear from anyone who's done it after a hospital birth.

The placenta must come out quite sterile - we kept ours wrapped in a black plastic bag in a hot garage for several days, and it still didn't smell bad when we finally got round to burying it.
I guess you just treat it like any other meat - keep it in the fridge or freezer till you use it. I guess it'll taste like liver or similar? (which would put me off!)

The placenta has lots of oxytocin in when it comes out - some people think if you immediately cut a piece (presumably off the mother's side of it if the cord is still attached) and put it in your mouth pressed against your cheek, or chew it, you absorb some of the oxytocin and this will help your uterus clamp down and prevent excess bleeding.

Have you heard about encapsulation also?

If you have a hospital delivery the midwife will double bag it and give it to you - if you wait it refridgerated them it is DP responsibility to take it home. Try not to keep it on the very hot postnatal ward double bagged - it will go 'off' quite quickly!
Only contraindication to being given your own placenta is if the mother has a BBV (blood borne virus eg HIV Hep B etc).