Woo or True?: Placenta Consumption for Prevention of Post-Partum Depression

This is something I’m experimenting on. I’ve thus far taken a very long creative break from blogging. I have a long list of ideas that I need to actually work out, but this one is my favorite. I call it “Woo or True?”
 

In “Woo or True?” I will discuss a parenting topic I see debated and discussed often and whether or not it is scientifically sound. As per usual, I source as much as I can, and my source list can be found at the very end of this blog. I welcome any and all suggestions for topics. These posts will also be attempted to be kept as a somewhat light read.

I do personally apologize for the LONG break of posts here on Back From Nature. Enjoy!

♥ Maranda

An often underestimated topic in the natural parenting community is placenta consumption. It’s a topic I saw more often than almost any other, and yet it is also one I almost never see discussed on science-based parenting blogs, websites, or groups. I, myself, had wanted to consume mine. I can still recall reading placenta pot roast recipes online. 

“I ate my placenta with some fava beans and a nice chianti”

In fact, there are people with entire careers based on placental encapsulation (the act of steaming, dehydrating and grinding the placenta before putting it into a pill) for new mothers. Mothers, doulas, and midwives of various backgrounds can be found promoting consumption either by cooking it as any other meat, raw, encapsulated, or in smoothies. But where’s the proof? What does placentophagy (the consumption of placenta) supposedly even do? Does it completely prevent the PPD or just alleviate it?

 

What they say it does:

“I truly felt better shortly after taking them--on mornings when I felt sluggish or anxious, I could feel a change in my body after taking the pills.” [1]

“The difference between my first two postpartum periods and the third was simply amazing! Instead of about five days of crying and feeling totally overwhelmed, even paranoid, I experienced one afternoon of teariness and then I was able to recognize that my feelings were related to hormones. I felt more in control than I had with my first babies and so much happier.” [2]

“The placenta is thought to be rich in nutrients that the mother needs to recover more readily from childbirth. . . . Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted a study that focused on CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone). . . . They concluded that the placenta secreted so much CRH that the hypothalamus stopped producing it. Once the placenta was born, it took some time for the hypothalamus to get the signal that the CRH levels were low, and to begin producing it again.” [3]*

           Proof that it’s true:

Well, not much.  Like a lot of things in the world of woo, I seemed to find that most of the “proof” of the benefits of placental consumption came from moms all boasting about it to eachother. If you find this to count as evidence, I wish to direct you here.

Listed in my third source above, was a few studies. Now, I had to google it, as their source link was dead, but I did find the 1995 Discover study on CRH and PPD. [4]

Human placenta is also used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Proof that it’s woo:

           Firstly, I’d like to point out that nowhere in the study on CRH and PPD was placental consumption ever discussed or brought up or researched. Not once. Consumption was not part of the study. The conclusion was made, clearly, in the part of the author of the post as well as other placental consumption advocates, who made the conclusion that “If I lose this and get depressed, then when I eat it it’ll make me not depressed.” 

Placental encapsulation businesses are also held to absolutely no standards, guidelines, or rules. There is no body that sets regulations for how a placenta must be handled when encapsulated. As a result, the dangers of having someone take your placenta and encapsulate it are many. They could be throwing your placenta in the toilet, they could be throwing it in the garbage and giving you ground up hair. Dramatic, but truly the risk of strangers without training or mandation on encapsulation.

 “Well,” you may be saying “I’m not having someone else encapsulate my placenta! I will be handling it all on my own!”

In 2012, Michelle Beacock of Edge Hill university conducted a study published in the British Journal of Midwifery that found that evidence of proof behind anecdotes about placental consumption is limited, dated, and ultimately inconclusive. [5]

In 2015, Northwestern University in Illinois conducted a review published in Archives of Women’s Mental Health. The review looked at placenta-consumption related research since 1950 and could not find any data to support the claims that eating the placenta raw, cooked, or in pill form carried any health benefits. Also in the review, was the fact that there are no studies which look at the actual risks of placental consumption. [6]

And do I really have to debunk traditional Chinese medicine?

           So, is it woo or true?

           SURVEY SAYS….. WOO!

           There is nothing current, detailed, and conclusive that supports this idea that placental consumption will prevent PPD. The closest thing to that evidence is anecdote, which as you know, simply is not enough. There are also no studies that address the potential risks.

           Back From Nature, and science, firmly recommend that you do NOT eat your placenta for any reason.

           You wouldn’t eat poop. You wouldn’t eat vomit. You wouldn’t eat your liver. Please, don’t eat your placenta.

SOURCES:

[1]          Milioto, Biba (October 22, 2013)                                http://www.xojane.com/healthy/why-placenta-encapsulation-is-the-smartest-post-partum-decision-i-could-have-made “Why Placenta Encapsulation Is The Smartest Post-Partum Decision I Could Have Made”

 

[2]          Sarah     http://placentabenefits.info/testimonials.asp

[3]          Selander, Jodi                                                    http://placentabenefits.info/medicinal.asp “Placenta for Healing”

* A fun note on this source. While this post discusses the benefits of placenta for healing, including stopping hemorrhaging, preventing PPD, promoting breast milk production, enhancing pain tolerance, etc, there is a disclaimer at the bottom that says: “This site is for informational purposes only. It does not intend to treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” I found this particularly interesting because, while this legal disclaimer claims this is not intended to treat a disease, it seems fairly obvious that is exactly what the intention is. This is one of many examples of truly sneaky practices made by woo-promoters in order to provide bogus health advice without getting sued when it doesn't work.

[4]          Ilona S. Yim, PhD, Laura M. Glynn, PhD, Christine Dunkel Schetter, PhD, Calvin J. Hobel, MD, Aleksandra Chicz-DeMet, PhD, and Curt A. Sandman, PhD (1995)                     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2768579/ “Elevated Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone in Human Pregnancy Increases the Risk of Postpartum Depressive Symptoms”

[5]          Beacock, Michelle (July 1, 2012)                 http://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/bjom.2012.20.7.464 “Does eating placenta offer postpartum health benefits?”

[6]          Cynthia W. Coyle, Kathryn E. Hulse, Katherine L. Wisner, Kara E. Driscoll, Crystal T. Clark (October 2015)                Archives of Women’s Mental Health, Volume 18, Issue 5, pp 673-680 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00737-015-0538-8 (Placentophagy: therapeutic miracle or myth?)  --OR-- http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33006384

 

Juniper Russo's Pro-Vaccine Sermon at UUCC

This is by far the most comprehensive, honest, and complete version of the Back From Nature story. It isn't just about vaccines, but about changing deeply held personal beliefs and finding new truths. I delivered it as a sermon at Unitarian Universalist Church of Chattanooga, where (despite a lot of controversy on social media) it was met with unanimous approval and a standing ovation. Please share the message.Z

5 Reasons Feminists Should Vaccinate

Ravishly recently published a piece by feminist anti-vax author Jody Allard, who-- in a string of convoluted drivel-- claimed that opposing vaccines is a feminist thing to do, and that mandatory vaccination is incompatible with feminism. As a vaccine advocate and a feminist: I call bullshit. 

Allard is right about one thing. Vaccination is a feminist issue. Immunization is one of the key elements that allows the progression of women's

rights.Although science has noted that feminism has been an influence on the anti-vax movement, it's critical to realize that many of the greatest wins of feminism have relied on immunization. Here's how.

1. Vaccines save women's lives.

Sure, they save the lives of men and children, too, but one of the most successful (and controversial) vaccines in modern history was designed with the specific intent of protecting women. HPV vaccination can prevent over two-thirds of cases of cervical cancer, which is one of the most common forms of cancer affecting women. The efficacy of the HPV vaccine will depend on herd immunity, and it is distinctly unfeminist to jeopardize the lives of women and girls by failing to have yourself and your own children vaccinated.

2. Vaccines provide reproductive freedom.

Deaths from cervical cancer are fairly rare in the industrialized world, but hysterectomies and cervix-damaging surgeries are not. In the past, countless women lost their fertility because of cervical cancer. We spent decades fighting for our right to choose when and whether we become pregnant. Feminism was the driving force behind birth control, abortion rights, emergency contraception, IVF, fertility treatments, and surrogacy, and it should be the driving force behind compliance with fertility-saving immunization.

3. Vaccines enable sexual liberation.

Although the majority of women are exposed to HPV at some point, women who have symptoms are still heavily stigmatized because of the notion that only "sluts" or dirty people can contract sexually transmitted disease. The HPV vaccine, which prevents genital warts in addition to cancer, allows women who have been exposed to the virus to continue their lives without shame and stigma. In addition, other vaccines that protect against sexually transmitted illness-- including the Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B vaccines-- can offer similar peace of mind and safety. Vaccination is part of safe sex, and safe sex is a cornerstone of feminism.

4. Vaccines protect women's dignity.

Preventative medicine for women can be upsetting, degrading, and even sometimes traumatizing. No one enjoys being drilled about her sexual history and then being poked with a cold speculum and having her cervix scraped. Feelings of embarrassment are actually among the leading causes of avoidance of preventative care. While at-risk women still need pap smears, the National Cancer Institute notes that immunization can reduce the need for invasive examinations and tests.

5. Vaccines facilitate workplace equality.

This is likely the most important way that immunization protects women's rights. In a world without vaccines, women's rights suffer. I've written before about the way dedication to "natural" parenting can hurt women's rights, but it goes beyond the failures of "crunchy" culture. Without vaccines, schools and daycares are unsafe. Immunocomprimised children can't attend them. Illnesses like rotavirus and chickenpox spread like wildfire. And, as a glance at any of your local crunchy groups will show, it's not the fathers who stay home and take care of the children in these situations. It's the mothers, many of whom wish that they had careers outside the home, but who are bound in their kitchens, making breast milk yogurt to soothe rotavirus-infected tummies. We can not have workplace equality if our children are not kept safe and healthy through modern medicine.

 Vaccines are not an enemy to feminism. They are a necessary ingredient in the ongoing advancement of women's rights. If you care about the rights of women and girls, care about them enough to protect them: vaccinate.