Health benefits of eating placenta 'unproven'

After giving birth, many women opt to consume their placentas for multiple health benefits. A new review of studies investigating placenta consumption, however, has failed to uncover any scientific evidence for these benefits, or that the practice is risk-free.

Some health advocates state that eating the placenta after giving birth can help prevent postpartum depression and relieve pain.

The study, published in Archives of Women's Mental Health involved a review of 10 published research studies on placentophagy - the practice of consuming placentas after childbirth. Four of these were human studies and six were animal studies deemed relevant to human practice.

During pregnancy, the placenta develops within the uterus to provide oxygen and nutrients for the baby and to remove waste products from its blood. When the child is born, the placenta is usually delivered shortly afterward.

Placentas can be consumed raw, cooked or in capsule form. Certain health advocates state that placentophagy can help prevent postpartum depression, relieve pain, aid lactation, enhance maternal bonding and provide other health benefits due to the organ retaining healthful hormones and nutrients.

Nearly all nonhuman mammals that produce placentas also eat them after giving birth. However, the first reports of human women eating their placentas did not appear until the 1970s in North America.

The healthful benefits of placentophagy have been promoted by health advocates and in the media in recent years, but what evidence is there for these benefits?

"There are a lot of subjective reports from women who perceived benefits, but there hasn't been any systematic research investigating the benefits or the risk of placenta ingestion," states study author Dr. Crystal Clark, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. Clark developed an interest in the practice after some of her pregnant patients queried whether the consumption of their placentas would have a disruptive influence on their antidepressant medication. She was surprised to discover that the practice was more widespread than she anticipated.

"The popularity has spiked in the last few years," she says. "Our sense is that people aren't making this decision based on science or talking with physicians. Some women are making this based on media reports, blogs and websites."

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