Eat the WHAT??

Jamie made a comment a few posts ago about something she saw on the news. The news had a story about how more women are eating their placentas in some form after their birth. Feel free to say ewwwwwwwww but it is an interesting phenomenon.

It is believed that the benefit of eating the placenta can help reduce postpartum hemmorage by helping the uterus contract and also help postpartum depression (ppd). I have read the testimonies of some women who have dried their placentas, encapsulated them and taken the pills after their pregnancies. They say that it helped them with ppd. Women who have tried it after having moderate to severe ppd once say that it helped them tremendously after having their next child. Some women will make milkshakes after the birth and add some placenta to help the uterus contract. Some use recipes to cook the placenta and add it to an entree. To see some recipes for the placenta click here.

The placenta is quite an amazing thing actually. It is an organ that gives life to the baby. It starts from conception and grows along with the baby to provide nutrients to help the baby grow. It is nutrient rich and can be found in shampoos and other products.

You may be wondering what I think about all this. Well, it is definitely interesting. After having pretty bad postpartum depression with Isaac it does sound a little tempting to dry the placenta and encapsulate it. Just a little tempting though. I don't know that I am ready for that in my "crunchiness". I think that it really has helped women and I certainly don't want to discount their testimonies even though I think it is a little unappetizing. I do not have any friends that have tried it and I certainly wouldn't look down on them for it. I would be utterly fascinated in the whole process and would even offer to help.

We do have an option at the birth center to take the placenta home with us. I decided to go for it. There are a few other things you can do with the placenta: bury it in the garden and/or make an art print of it and hang it on the wall. I bought a tupperware container and am going to take the placenta home and put it in the freezer until next year. I thought that I might use it in my Bradley classes to show anyone who is curious to see what a placenta looks like. I know that not everyone is as fascinated with things like that but I know there are others out there like me who think that sort of thing is very cool to examine. Next summer we are going to make a little garden and plant some tomatoes and other vegetables and I will plant the placenta in the dirt to help fertilize the garden.

I haven't considered making an art print out of it but maybe I will be inspired to do something like that when I get home from the birth. I have always wanted to do one of those plaster belly portraits but have never done it. Maybe this will be the next best thing? I am always looking for some good art.