Modern placentophagy Human placentophagy

a slice of placenta, being prepared consumption.

modern practice of placentophagy rare, contemporary human cultures not promote consumption. placentophagy did receive popular culture attention in 2012, however, when american actress january jones credited eating placenta helping work on set of mad men after 6 weeks.

despite general cultural avoidance, however, instances of placentophagy have been recorded among modern cultures. in 1960s “male , female vietnamese nurses , midwives of chinese , thai background consum[ed] placentas of young, healthy patients” reasons unspecified, reported czechoslovakian medical officer in @ hospital of czechoslovak-vietnamese friendship in haiphong. placentas stripped of membranous parts , fried onions before being eaten.

a more recent cross-cultural ethnographic study researchers @ university of nevada, las vegas surveyed 179 contemporary human societies, , identified 1 culture (chicano, or mexican-american) mentioned practice of maternal placentophagy. account, centering on chicano , anglo midwifery in san antonio, texas, stated, cooking , eating part of placenta has…been reported couple of midwives. 1 anglo mother ... reported have roasted placenta. instance, however, may not indicative of larger cultural trends, no other records of placentophagy found in chicano culture. same study recorded 3 references of non-maternal placentophagy:

placenta prepared in stir-fry broccoli


traditional gullah medicine dictates when baby born caul, amniotic membranes on face @ birth, placenta made tea , consumed child “prevent them seeing spirits otherwise haunt [them].”
practice of paternal placentophagy identified in malekula of melanesia. “in espiritu santo, new father [eats] pudding made cooked placenta , blood.”
oral administration of placenta reported in sino-vietnamese medicine aid recovery of suffering tuberculosis.

in follow-up study, unlv researchers joined colleagues @ university of south florida, , surveyed women had engaged in maternal placentophagy previously. of 189 placentophagic women surveyed, researchers found 95 percent of participants had positive or positive subjective experiences eating own placenta, citing beliefs of improved mood , increased energy , , improved lactation . authors themselves, however, state exceedingly little research has been conducted assess these claims , no systematic analysis has been performed evaluate experiences of women engage in behavior.

recent examples of placentophagy in popular media include time magazine’s afterbirth: it’s what’s dinner , , usa today’s ingesting placenta: healthy new moms?