Has anyone eaten their placenta?

[Mylittlepuds]

Sorry if this has been done. I'm just curious. I suspect it costs a fortune to get it whatevered into pills - and I'd be considered mental by friends and family if I did - so probably out for me. Yet I'm intrigued...

I felt better than I had after any other birth (four). I assure you that asking to take the placenta home wasn't terribly unusual when I was still in midwifery (a long time ago now) I'm sure people still do.

I caught a glimpse of the placenta after both births and quickly averted my eyes. If I couldn't quite bear to look directly at one, I really don't think I could bring myself to consume it.

Raspberryandorangesorbet

A Parkray fire? Well we had central heating installed once to run on coke. In those days At the time there was a choice of grates. I can't remember them all but a Parkray (or was it Park Ray?) was an enclosed grate with metal doors that had glass panes at the front. Behind it was the boiler that it heated. Something like that anyway it's so long ago.

That might be what PowerDresser had.

Youmakemewanna - same here ! Awful hospitalising pnd after children 1 and 2 - third time round I'd have done anything to avoid that
I was fine this time

Duritz - did you eat it?

Mylittlepuds. - seriously think about encapsulation
Worked for me - was an UTTER sceptic but those capsules kept me level

FGSits been inside you for last nine months people - doesn't it make total sense that it disappearing in minutes would upset the body's equilibrium ?
Ingesting capsules just resets the balance
(disclaimer) I could never ever ever eat it in a smoothie or fricasseed

In capsule form and I would again

I also have heart shaped thingy made from baba's cord !

I'd eat it if I had children over again.

I'm probably (yeah, alright, definitely) going to do it. Had to have a blood transfusion after PPH with DD, and subsequently had PND. Would like to try and take control this time.

Don't see why it's so gross? It's in a capsule. Completely dehydrated. Nothing 'icky' at all. Personally I couldn't eat it cooked/fried/whatever, as I'm pathetically squeamish, but this is a good balance for me.

The midwives actually asked me if I wanted to keep the placenta. DH and I were stunned and asked them why - apparently it's very common to take it home and bury it here (The Netherlands) so it's something they ask routinely.

I wouldn't fancy eating it myself, we didn't even opt for keeping it, but I can see the sense in the arguments for doing so and don't think it's disgusting. A placenta is certainly a huge and peculiar looking thing though!

Kayano - you might appreciate this old quote on MN...

I was listening to Jeremy Hardy recently and his show was "how to be a parent" and as part of it he said "Birth parents sometimes like to cook and eat the placenta. Of course that option isn't open to adoptive parents, but they might like to consider cooking and eating their social worker."

Something tells me that man has had at least some experience with the adoptive process

Good on you lala. I'm not pregnant yet but I plan to do what you've done when the time comes.

Didn't Hugh FW make it into pate?

I ate it with some fava beans.

And a nice Chianti

And a nice Chianti?

I went to our local home birth talk last night and we ended up talking about keeping and consuming your placenta. I think I might go for it - the midwife was very pro consuming it and I'd rather that for off-setting the crazy hormones than anything synthetic! For me it's really just about the bother of getting it sorted - it feels like something else on the list of Things That Need Doing For The Birth and we're a bit skint, so not completely sure I can justify palming it off on someone else. I might just have a container out ready to freeze it - or maybe I should be having the capsules ASAP?

Props to the ladies who've done it - there's nothing disgusting about it, it's just a personal choice. But there's absolutely no need for the childish twat and dickhead remarks. I mean - really? Why? It smacks of immaturity - it's one thing to be a bit grossed out by it, and of course - people can be as far at the end of the "natural" spectrum as other people are at the "medicalised" spectrum, and that's all fine, whatever you're comfortable with. But to be such a knob about it yourself is unnecessary - it's not you, fine, no one's forcing you. But you know, truth be told, I've nothing but pity that you're so uncomfortable and so far removed from your own body and nature that you need to react in that way.

No, after bloody well pushing out Ds for over 7 hours, 7 hours of pushing and avoiding anything in the way of intervention and a room full of people at the end of the bed staring at the business end towards the later stages, the ruddy placenta did not want to come out! They gave me a time limit, or they would have to take me to theatre (my sister has twice had to go to theatre for a retained placenta after normal births) 1 minute before the time limit was up the bastard thing came out, I never wanted to see the bloody thing again, felt like I had been hit by a truck and I was hungry dammit (er for food), and had to deal with that! Not at all irrationally bitter over this of course!

I wouldn't....but it doesn't disgust me as much as some others!

Well said orenishii !

I think you can freeze it and have it later, though I'm not sure if this limits what you can have done with it; theres 'fresh capsules' and 'traditional chinese medicine capsules'. The TCM have ginger and other stuff in them. I had the fresh ones which I think are anecdotally more potent.

If there is meconium in the waters your options are limited too. Same if the placenta is broken, incomplete or calcified.

You might be able to find an encapsulationist who will visit the hospital to collect the placenta. Because you can't know for sure when you'll give birth they are effectively 'on-call' anyway. I'd recommend the IPEN website

Hi there, we've moved this into Childbirth as it's not really an AIBU. Thanks.

Hmm after reading this thread I am now considering encapsulation after this pregnancy. How do you find someone who'll do it for you? LaLa what is this IPEN website?

I'm still going to snigger at the crude jokes though! [childish] After all, other natural functions like pooing and sex have been the subject of childish humour for years.

IPEN

You can get information and find someone to do it for you on there