Hmmm forced cannibalism...is that not how BSE (Mad Cow) starts??

Cats and dogs upon giving birth eat the placenta (as do many other carnivorous animals in the wild). I've been told by my friend's mother that has been breeding both Siamese cats and Dobermans for over 15 years that it stimulates contractions of the uterus, whereas humans acheive this through breastfeeding. The only instance in which I myself have heard about humans eating placenta is in the case of vegetarians; apparantly, to hardcore veggie-heads it's okay to eat placenta as it is the only form of meat that doesn't involve killing some other animal.

I don't know. If I (god forbid) ever had a kid, I think I'd be sickened to eat the placenta, but to each his own, I suppose.

I'm sure I've heard that this restores the balance of hormones to your body and helps prevent post-natal depression, but I didn't get how crazy that sounded til I started to type it. Meh.

Well, about.com mentions it, as does this australian site, so make of that what you will....

Years ago, I had a friend who was the epitomy of the "Earth Mother" type. She had her baby at home with a midwife and was all natural etc. I went to visit her a couple of days after the baby was born and she actually offered me her homemade "Placenta Pate" that she still had left in her fridge! Needless to say, I passed. (I don't think she even liked it too much judging from how much was leftover.)

Oh yeah, I forgot. She was a vegetarian, but like the above comment states, it was OK to eat her own placenta because it didn't involve killing an animal. That is absolutely true!

Actually, dogs and cats eat the placenta because their wild ancestors did. The mom would be unable to hunt for a bit, and so she would need a quick meal, as well as cleaning up so that the remains would not attract other predators. As in humans, nursing stimulates uterine contractions. It's not absolutely necessary for a dog or cat to eat the placentas.

One of my pathology teachers in vet school actually preserved her placenta and brought it out so we could compare it to the other examples (cow, pig, dog, etc.) No one wanted to touch it, however.

I recalled reading something in an anthropology journal many years ago about tribes in Africa that practice ritualistic placenta consumption. After a woman of the tribe gave birth, she and the other women of the tribe would cook and eat the placenta. They believed that doing so would increase their chance to conceive, from what I recall. Here is a link that makes brief reference to this, but give different reasons:

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:LOcfJIBTDj0J:www.jkeates.freeserve.co.uk/Placenta.pdf+africa+tribe+"eat+the+placenta"&hl=en

I'm going to get some lunch now.

the placentapiece of any placenta meal should be carefully arranged amongst placentamats. These can be purchased for 50 placents each from www.placentralplace.cmon truly

This is just disturbing. I rather eat bugs then a placenta. But that's just me.

I wonder if this counts as cannabalism?

Okay, seriously SICK OUT! Not in a million years! I would take the soylent green first! Then the placenta!

yeah but if you eat soylent green then theres a good chance you will eat a placenta anyway, not to mention other body parts which you might not find plesant to gobble on...

i think this has a huge appeal in the hippy district, i mean what usually happens to placentas? surely you could pay women for their placentas after birth and then have a whole range of meat products for vegatarians

Years and years ago, HBO on one of their series the ran about weird things people do showed a woman who took the placenta from her grandchild's birth, cooked it, and served it to friends. I'm pretty sure this was in England.

About 20 years ago when we had our first child we subscribed to "Mothering" magazine. It had some interesting stuff but as the months wore on it carried more and more bizzare alternative articles. We knew it was time to pull the plug on the subscription when they ran an article on eating your placenta. It appears to be real, people do it but no thanks!
As I remember one of the original Saturday Nite Live! skits that was never aired due to contoversial content was an ad for "Placenta Helper"!

Didn't we have a post like this, but people were washing hair with the placenta.

i saw this on on i think Real Sex on HBO a couple years back. the couple made a pate and then had their friends over to share. even the vegitarian tried it.

Wish I had Joe Rogan's email address...

Years ago, when stories about this first began to appear out of California (where else?) Saturday Night Live did a hilarious bit about it starring Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner. The thrust of it that there was a product on the market called Placenta Helper (a take-off on Hamburger Helper, a soy product) that you could use to serve up larger portions of placenta.

RED DAVE

when i was born (at home, midwives, no drugs etc.) the placenta was buried under a linden tree in our yard, in the hopes that it would decompose and provide nourishment. who knows whether it did, all i know is it is a shining example of my 'hippei' upbringing.

I happen to know that at Elaine's on Franklin, (a hipster restaraunt in Chapel Hill, NC), the head chef lovingly prepared sauteed placenta and served it to favored employee and the mother of his new born child. Bon apetit!

A few years ago a British TV chef - Hugh Fearnley-whittingstall - cooked a freshly-delivered placenta on TV. He said that the final dish, sauteed with red wine, onions etc was very like liver. And though I'm a fan of liver my family - as my wife says - is now complete...

Late on this, but yeah, it happens. Here's a thread from Mothering magazine's message boards (no surprise there):
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=225844&highlight=placenta+eat

Haven't heard of vegetarians eating it because it doesn't involve killing, but there's much talk of it helping avoid postpartum depression. Of the 150+ women who voted on the poll, 45 have or would eat their placenta.

Interestingly enough, many of them are eating it raw.

According to that poll...

Would/did you eat your placenta?
Yes - 45 - 29.61%
No - 102 - 67.11%
Other - 7 - 4.61%

What the fuck does 'other' entail?

Either you'd eat it or you'd puke just thinking aboot it, there's not really any middle ground on eating massive pieces of vaginal discharge caused by birth.

Or is there?

Vaginal discharge is an awful was to describe the placenta but then you are male so that explains alot - you sound like a typical pig of a man, it is the tree of life so to speak. It's very nutritious for the mother to digest after the demands of pregnancy, not only can it help with PND (not always) but it also helps contract the uterus and provides mum with a boost of nutrients. Many cultures view it in different ways, from Lotus Births where you leave the cord unclamped and placenta attached to your baby until it dries to Chinese Medicine which highly reveres the consumption of dried placenta, to traditions where you bury the placenta to return a part of you to the earth. I myself in a few months will have mine dried and put in capsule form to take for the first few weeks after pregnancy.

It's not an uncommon thing to do, it's benefits should not be overlooked. If you couldn't do it then don't...no one is forcing you to. And anyways, you'd be shocked what goes into alot of processed foods in supermarkets.

Rod:

Would/did you eat your placenta?
Yes - 45 - 29.61%
No - 102 - 67.11%
Other - 7 - 4.61%

What the fuck does 'other' entail?

Perhaps they said they'd eat someone else's placenta?

"you'd be shocked what goes into alot of processed foods in supermarkets"

Too right! Last week I saw placenta for sale in my local Tescos for christsake!

No wait... that was 'polenta'.

Hey aussie, you're a sick bitch. It is the same thing as canniblism. I guess Jeff Dahmer was justified?? There are other ways of getting nutrients than being eating yourself.
"It's not uncommon?" Fuck yeah it is uncommon. If it wasn't uncommon we would not be having this discussion. By the way, the last time I looked at processed foods in the supermarket I don't remember seeing HUMAN on the list.

Dave, you're a dumbass.
Do some research before you open up your mouth.
Not only is placenta eaten by mothers in many cultures worldwide but placenta has been used in all kinds of health and beauty products for the last 75 years.
You may even have inadvertantly eaten some placenta yourself.
Ever get shampoo in your mouth while doing your hair in the shower?
Several shampoos, including the one in my shower, contain placental enzymes.

John, there are not HUMAN placental enzymes in shampoo. Historically, there have been cultures that have eaten human flesh. Does that make it right?? I guess it is ok to do what others do. The Nazis killed over ten million people, therefore is it ok for others to do the same??? I suggest you get your head out of your ass and think before you comment.

Dave

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