Weekend Movie: From Womb to Womb

Biological Anthropologist Julienne Rutherford has a fascinating talk available online that is a short but nice overview of the effect of epigenetics from womb to womb. Essentially she discusses the effects on the intrauterine environment, and whether the womb that we develop in affects the womb that our female offspring produce when they reproduce. The purpose is to understand how we pass down, generation to generation, the effects of our socio-ecological environment. Put another way, how our grandmother's life affects our life, and the lives of ensuing generations.

Her talk covers how placentas play a role, how Life Course Theory is part of it, but isn't the whole picture, and how studying primates can help us get an idea of the impact of intrauterine environments on the health and lives of future offspring.

"We are more than our genes. Genes get switched on and off constantly. All the DNA in our bodies in all the cells is essentially identical, but some get turned on, some get turned off...

But even more subtley, gene expression can be affected by our environment in the now, in the lived experience. Molecules attach to the DNA, which sort of locks it down, so its inexpressible - can't get turned on. This phenomenon is called epigenetics. Epi = beyond, above. Something beyond just the molecule themselves. How are the molecules regulated.

We know from a variety of experiments and observations in humans and other animals that the lived experience of an organism can have enormous impacts on how the genes are regulated. We also know that some of these molecular locks can be inherited along with the DNA itself. So, for ex, some genes in the stress pathway of maternal ,fetal, and placental tissues are regulated differently in people who have experienced poor nutrition, poor rearing behavior... high levels of psychosocial stress, institutional racism and discrimination, and the experience of war..."

It's one more argument for improving social and economic environments in order to improve a population's health and future potential. People often think that a poor or unhealthy person can just "do better" to make themselves healthier or more wealthy, but so much depends on our socio-ecological environments, and that of our ancestors.

"The placenta contains the mysteries of the past and predictions for the future..."

You can view Dr. Rutherford's 23 minute presentation on the website for the Cusp Conference 2014.

https://www.cuspconference.com/videos/julienne-rutherford-2014/

Active Management of Third Stage

Third Stage

The third stage of labor lasts from when the baby is born to when the placenta is birthed. Once the baby is expelled, the uterus generally continues contracting. Stimulation of the nipples by the baby helps the uterus contract down to pre-pregnancy size. The contractions and the hormones cause the placenta to detach from the uterine wall. The mother may feel another urge to push, but pushing out a squishy placenta is much easier than pushing out another baby!

The third stage generally lasts about an hour. It can last more than that, but generally the hospital won't even wait more than 30 minutes. If the placenta is taking a long time to detach and come out, there is a fear that it is a "retained placenta," and they may manually remove it. If the placenta is retained, or if pieces of it are retained, there is a risk for postpartum hemorrhage (excessive bleeding). This is why 1. the doctor or midwife will check to make sure the placenta is intact, and 2. the doctor or midwife may administer a shot or a bolus of pitocin to get the uterus to continue to contract.

Active Management 

Postpartum hemorrhage is the biggest childbirth complication and maternal killer worldwide. The World Health Organization recommends pitocin for all women to prevent postpartum hemorrhage and maternal mortality. They refer to this as "active management."

Many women want to avoid pitocin, even postpartum, because of it's potential side effects.  Normal expulsion of the placenta is possible without pitocin. We also have the luxury, in the United States, of having immediately available emergency care. If you begin to bleed excessively after birth, either your care provider would notice and take steps to stop it, or you would be able to call 911 and have an ambulance with you in a short time.

If you don't see a problem with receiving pitocin after birth, go for it. It is preventative, and recommended. And if you don't want it but end up needing it because of a suspected retained placenta, don't worry too much about it - it is a life saver in many instances!

The midwife at Midwife's Thinking Blog wants you to know something important:

Physiological placental birth is an option and possible if you manage to avoid induction, augmentation, an epidural or complications – but be aware of how difficult it may be, and don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t happen.

Some medical interventions can mess with a physiological placental birth because they interrupt your body's natural production of oxytocin (your labor hormone!). Just something to keep in mind, and another bonus to a natural birth. Another thing that interrupts this - stress.

Keeping baby skin to skin and on the breast immediately after birth is a great way to help that placenta out!

In a world where the majority women are having inductions, pain medication, anesthesia, augmentation, and stressful birth environments in the hospital, active management of the third stage might be the best idea for most women. 

Cord Traction

I do have to add here that I don't think cord traction is a good idea. I'm not a doctor or a midwife, but cord traction seems like a terrible idea, yet one that is done ALL THE TIME. This is when the care provider pulls on the umbilical cord to help the placenta out (sometimes in conjunction with the pitocin). This can cause additional problems - a placenta that hasn't separated from the uterus yet can cause a partial detachment (adds to hemorrhage), you can snap the umbilical cord (not a huge deal), or worst case scenario, pull the uterus out!

Even though this is "faster," which doctors like, it doesn't seem to do much good. I really wouldn't want to risk making things worse by pulling on the cord, especially if the third stage hasn't been that long, yet! 



How long did it take for your placenta to come out? What are your thoughts on the active management of the third stage?

 

 

 

 

Lotus Birth in the Movies

The new movie Wanderlust with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd (among others) features a lotus birth!

Actress Lauren Ambrose, upper right, has a lotus birth in the film. 

Of course it was in the context of an outrageously stereotypical hippie commune where a woman delivers her own child, Paul Rudd passes out, and the next day she is seen carrying her baby attached by the umbilical cord to a placenta that her partner holds in a bowl.

What was interesting for me, though, was that this was shown in a mainstream movie. Does that mean that lotus birth has become popular enough to be on movie writers radar? Or perhaps just one writer needs to know about it for it to get put into the movie.


Of course American society is not quite ready for some aspects of the natural birth/crunchy mom community, such as carrying around an organ in a bowl, and the whole theatre went "EWWWW!!" And reviews of the movie include quotes like this one from NPR's review of the movie: "the community's decision to leave a newborn's umbilical cord and placenta attached until they fall off naturally is a gag-inducing gag that goes too far." 


Baby steps, lotus birth enthusiasts! :)


What is your reaction to Lotus Birth? Or, if you have seen Wanderlust, what was your reaction to it in the film? 




If you're not sure what I'm talking about, below is more information on Lotus Birth --
(from my own blog post of almost 2 years ago)


As mentioned before, there are benefits to delayed clamping and severance of the umbilical cord for the baby. There have been few recent arguments that delayed clamping is dangerous. Here is another, more "extreme" practice related to the umbilical cord.

A Lotus Birth is one during which the umbilical is not cut.

Ever.

The placenta and baby are left attached until the umbilical cord naturally detaches. 

Herbs, essential oils and salts are applied to assist in the drying process and keeps odor at bay. The umbilical cord usually comes off on its own 3 - 10 days postpartum. The placenta is kept in a little pouch and goes around with the newborn. 

It is considered a gentler, non-violent form of birth. 

I have found several articles online that claim that,

"Lotus birthed babes appear more calm and healthy than their counterparts whose cords are immediately cut. They receive quite a bit of extra blood, rich in nutrients and oxygen, that boosts their immune system. The placenta helps their liver by filtering toxins from the baby's blood as long as the pumping continues. Their navals heal faster, and they can have their first bath sooner. The experience is gentler on the child and very special for all involved."

Lotus Birth, aka Umbilical Nonseverance, is generally practiced only at home or birth center births. This seems pretty clear, I'd say, since hospital attendants generally clamp the cord immediately. 

Wikipedia has this to say about the historical development of Lotus Birth:

In Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, the term "lotus birth" is used to describe spiritual teachers such as Gautama Buddha andPadmasambhava (Lien-hua Sen), emphasizing their entrance into the world as intact, holy children. References to lotus births are also found in Hinduism, for example in the story of the birth of Vishnu. 
Although recently arisen as an alternative birth phenomenon in the West, delayed umbilical severance and umbilical nonseverance have been recorded in a number of cultures including that of the Balinese and of some aboriginal peoples such as the African !Kung.
Early American pioneers, in written diaries and letters, reported practicing nonseverance of the umbilicus as a preventative measure to protect the infant from an open wound infection.

Sarah J Buckley, a popular proponent for Lotus Birth, writes about her experiences with Lotus Birth. She says that Lotus Birth was named in 1974 when

Clair Lotus Day, pregnant and living in California, began to question the routine cutting of the cord. Her searching led her to an obstetrician who was sympathetic to her wishes and her son Trimurti was born in hospital and taken home with his cord uncut. Lotus birth was named by, and seeded through, Clair to Jeannine Parvati Baker in the US and Shivam Rachana in Australia, who have both been strong advocates for this gentle practice.

The practice then gained notoriety in the yoga community when Jeannine Parvati Baker wrote a book called Prenatal Yoga and Natural Childbirth. She saw it as the practical application of the yogic value of ahimsa.


Lotus Birth has also been observed in non-humans. 

Primatologist Jane Goodall, who was the first person to conduct any long-term studies of chimpanzees in the wild, reported that they did not chew or cut their offspring’s cords, instead leaving the umbilicus intact. Because humans share 99% genetic material with chimpanzees, some lotus birth practitioners refer to chimpanzee practice as a natural practice for humans as well. (Since many cases of chimpanzee cord separation have also been documented, further studies are required.)

 

photo: http://naturalpregnancy.wordpress.com/

Anthropology of Reproductive Health: Part 1

This semester I am taking a fabulous anthropology course on reproductive health. (I actually told my class that I have this blog, so if you are my classmate, hello!) I am enjoying this class more than any other class I've taken so far in graduate school - the discussions each week are excellent and I want them to continue all day, the reading assignments are fascinating and I enjoy every one, and the overall class theme is issues related to sexual and reproductive health from a multi-disciplinary approach! With topics like state control/social control, pregnancy/prenatal care, childbirth/breastfeeding, abortion, infertility, STI's, and circumcision, what's not to love?

So, I thought I'd list the articles we've been reading so that you can read them, too, if interested. My professor has compiled an excellent reading list, and I hope she doesn't mind that I'm sharing them here. I will do this in parts, so as not to overwhelm anyone interested in seeing the full list, and I am including some notable quotes from some of the articles to give you an idea of what I found most interesting about them.

The first day we talked about Reproductive Health and Human Rights, for which we read the articles listed below.

Palestinian Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in a Longstanding Humanitarian Crisis (Bosmans, M., D. Nasser, U. Khammash, P. Claeys, and M. Temmermane 2008)

"...the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is seriously affecting the sexual and reproductive rights of both refugee and non-refugee women in the West Bank and Gaza."

"Two international organizations mentioned keeping records of deliveries, still-births and cases of women dying during delivery at the military checkpoints because they were denied passage to reach the hospital."

"A woman's contribution to national development and survival is mainly understood in terms of her reproductive role, and persistent gender inequalities prevent her from using contraception."

Sex trafficking, sexual risk, sexually transmitted infection and reproductive health among female sex workers in Thailand (Decker, M. R., H. L. McCauley, et al. 2011)

‘Other Inhuman Acts': Forced Marriage, Girl Soldiers, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (Park, A.J. 2006) 

"Girls should not be subsumed under the category 'women' or 'children', but require specific attention."

Advancing Transgender Family Rights through Science: A Proposal for an Alternative Framework (Sabatello, M 2011) 

"As not 'truly' man or woman, their right to marry was extremely curtailed. As not 'naturally' mother or father, their right to found a family could not reach the legal threshold for 'parenthood.'"

"While transgendered individuals were offered the advantage of scientific developments, exercising this option meant losing an array of other fundamental human rights."

Behind Closed Doors’: Debt-Bonded Sex Workers in Sihanoukville, Cambodia (Sandy, L. 2009) 

Our second class was devoted to the topic of Anthropology and Reproduction:

Anthropology theorizes reproduction: Integrating practice, political economic, and feminist perspectives. Greenhalgh, S. (1995) 

“Life Begins When They Steal Your Bicycle”: Cross-Cultural Practices of Personhood at the Beginnings and Ends of Life. (Morgan, L. 2006) [my favorite article of this week!]

 "Feminist anthropologists have asked, for example, how 'fetal subjects' have come to acquire social currency, and who is able to assert of deny their moral significance."

"Wari' [people in western Amazonia] models of personhood emphasize bodies that are interconnected; each individual's body is constituted through the continual exchange and incorporation of body substances such as blood, semen, breast milk, and sweat. Furthermore, one's identity changes throughout one's life as one becomes more or less related to multiple others through the exchange (or not) of body substances. When Conklin asked the Wari' to explain how babies are made, tey told her that a newborn is built from the gradual accumulation and mixing of the father's semen and maternal blood over the course of pregnancy. If a father goes away for an extended period of time while his wife is pregnant, the baby will be born thin and weak because it was deprived of the semen it needed to make it strong. Conklin explained that for the Wari', this conceptualization implies that babies are always considered to be the product of a sustained relationship between a man and a woman...A Wari' pregnancy therefore can never be a mistake; a Wari' child can never be 'unwanted.'"

 "I fear that the concept of culture has sometimes come to function as what anthropologist James Ferguson called an 'anti-politics machine,' an ideological apparatus used to divert attention away from structural inequalities that might be harder to change, or the questioning of which would threaten to destabilize the political system."

"A focus on fetal citizens diverts attention from other challenges that pregnant women face and from other threats to fetal health."

"Nor will personhood be resolved in the embryology laboratory or in the courts, for personhood is destined to be played forever on the disputatious fields of social practice."

Liminal Biopolitics: Towards a Political Anthropology of the Umbilical Cord and the Placenta. Santoro, P. (2011).

"Preserving UCB [umbilical cord blood] is offered as a form of engaging with biomedical evolution and with the whole new generation of stem cell therapies that will surely be developed in the near future."

In early Modern Europe, "the placenta simply could not be neglected: the child's future career depended on it, because the child inevitably suffered form the repercussions of any misadventure on the part of his double."

"[The placenta] was tied to the branch of a tree and left there to dry, or cooked and eaten by the mother and maybe other people (the belief being that the placenta had miraculous powers of fertility)." 

"Among the Cherokee, the navel-string of a girl is buried under a corn-mortar, in order that the girl may grow up to  be a good baker; but the navel-string of a boy is hung up on a tree, in order that he may be a hunter... In ancient Mexico they used to give the navel-string to soldiers, to be buried by them on a field of battle, in order that the boy might thus acquire a passion for war."

"A negligent disposal could be the source of directly disastrous events: if one burned the placenta in the fire, it was possible that the mother would suffer from fevers and inflammation of the womb..." 

"The Santals of East India, for instance, do not refer to their birthplace, rather they refer to 'the village where my afterbirth is buried'"

Culture, Scarcity, and Maternal Thinking: Maternal Detachment and Infant Survival in a Brazilian Shantytown. Scheper-Hughes, N. (1998)

"Infant and childhood mortality in the Third World is a problem of political economy, not of medical technology." 

"Whenever we social and behavioral scientists involve ourselves in the study of women's lives - most especially thinking and behavior surrounding reproduction and maternity - we frequently come up against psychobiological theories of human nature that have been uncritically derived from assumptions and values implicit in the structure of the modern, Western, bourgeois family. Theories of innate maternal scripts such as 'bonding,' 'maternal thinking,' or 'maternal instincts' are both culture and history bound, the reflection of the very specific and very recent reproductive strategy: to give birth to few babies and invest heavily in each one."

Feminist Anthropology Anew: Motherhood and HIV/AIDS as Sites of Action. Downe, P. J. (2011)

Check back for more soon!

Lotus Birth

As mentioned before, there are benefits to delayed clamping and severance of the umbilical cord for the baby. There have been few recent arguments that delayed clamping is dangerous. Here is another, more "extreme" practice related to the umbilical cord.

A Lotus Birth is one during which the umbilical is not cut.

Ever.

The placenta and baby are left attached until the umbilical cord naturally detaches.

Herbs, essential oils and salts are applied to assist in the drying process and keeps odor at bay. The umbilical cord usually comes off on its own 3 - 10 days postpartum. The placenta is kept in a little pouch and goes around with the newborn.

It is considered a gentler, non-violent form of birth.

I have found several articles online that claim that,

"Lotus birthed babes appear more calm and healthy than their counterparts whose cords are immediately cut. They receive quite a bit of extra blood, rich in nutrients and oxygen, that boosts their immune system. The placenta helps their liver by filtering toxins from the baby's blood as long as the pumping continues. Their navals heal faster, and they can have their first bath sooner. The experience is gentler on the child and very special for all involved."

Lotus Birth, aka Umbilical Nonseverance, is generally practiced only at home or birth center births. This seems pretty clear, I'd say, since hospital attendants generally clamp the cord immediately.

Wikipedia has this to say about the historical development of Lotus Birth:

In Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, the term "lotus birth" is used to describe spiritual teachers such as Gautama Buddha and Padmasambhava (Lien-hua Sen), emphasizing their entrance into the world as intact, holy children. References to lotus births are also found in Hinduism, for example in the story of the birth of Vishnu.
Although recently arisen as an alternative birth phenomenon in the West, delayed umbilical severance and umbilical nonseverance have been recorded in a number of cultures including that of the Balinese and of some aboriginal peoples such as the African !Kung.
Early American pioneers, in written diaries and letters, reported practicing nonseverance of the umbilicus as a preventative measure to protect the infant from an open wound infection.

Sarah J Buckley, a popular proponent for Lotus Birth, writes about her experiences with Lotus Birth. She says that Lotus Birth was named in 1974 when

Clair Lotus Day, pregnant and living in California, began to question the routine cutting of the cord. Her searching led her to an obstetrician who was sympathetic to her wishes and her son Trimurti was born in hospital and taken home with his cord uncut. Lotus birth was named by, and seeded through, Clair to Jeannine Parvati Baker in the US and Shivam Rachana in Australia, who have both been strong advocates for this gentle practice.

The practice then gained notoriety in the yoga community when Jeannine Parvati Baker wrote a book called Prenatal Yoga and Natural Childbirth. She saw it as the practical application of the yogic value of ahimsa.


Lotus Birth has also been observed in non-humans.

Primatologist Jane Goodall, who was the first person to conduct any long-term studies of chimpanzees in the wild, reported that they did not chew or cut their offspring’s cords, instead leaving the umbilicus intact. Because humans share 99% genetic material with chimpanzees, some lotus birth practitioners refer to chimpanzee practice as a natural practice for humans as well. (Since many cases of chimpanzee cord separation have also been documented, further studies are required.)

 

photo: http://naturalpregnancy.wordpress.com/

Delayed Cord Clamping for Aboriginal Babies

The importance of delayed cord clamping for Aboriginal babies: A life-enhancing advantage
from Women and Birth, Journal of the Australian College of Midwives (March 2009)

Summary 

Third stage management has typically focused on women and postpartum haemorrhage. Clamping and cutting the umbilical cord following the birth of the baby has continued to be a routine part of this focus. Active versus physiological management of third stage is generally accepted as an evidence-based plan for women to avoid excessive blood loss. Other considerations around this decision are rarely considered, including the baby's perspective. This paper provides a review of the literature regarding timing of clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord and related issues, and discusses the consequences for babies and in particular Aboriginal babies. Iron stores in babies are improved (among other important advantages) if the cord is left to stop pulsating for 3min before being clamped. Such a simple measure of patience and informed practice can make a long lasting difference to a baby's health and for Aboriginal babies this advantage can be critical in the short and the long term for their development and wellbeing. To achieve much needed reductions in infancy anaemia and essential increases in infant survival, delayed cord clamping and cutting is recommended for all Aboriginal babies.

Introduction 

At birth each baby is separated from their mother and placenta by clamping and cutting the umbilical cord – usually straight after the birth in line with active management of the third stage. This separation has been a routine task focused on prompt efficiency in most situations and referred to by Hutton and Hassan (p. 1241) as “by far the oldest and most prevalent intervention in humans”.1 The absence of evidence for the timing of this ritual is perplexing given there is no proof that delayed cord clamping is harmful.2 For the baby, timing of clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord is a significant transitional event.3

Traditionally and typically in most hospitals cutting of the umbilical cord occurs within seconds of the birth of the baby. This prompt or early (as it has become known) clamping of the cord was originally advised (without evidence) to avoid the baby becoming hypothermic.4 Haste was believed to be best for the baby so leaving the cord to finish pulsating was not a consideration.

Busy Maternity Units can have persisting habit-based practices to reduce staff workload and be paced to ensure efficient throughput of women rather than facilitate woman centred and baby advantaged care. A woman can have a literal ‘stop watch’ applied to her on hospital admission in labour requiring the birth process to run smoothly and in a timely manner; if she has a birth plan staff may find it difficult to practise outside the confines of their ‘busyness’ and the routine of the maternity unit to allow for ‘alternatives’ such as leaving the cord to stop pulsating before it is clamped. One reason for women to choose to birth in a birthing centre or at home for example, is if delayed cord clamping and unimpeded skin-to-skin contact are important to them and their baby.

This paper provides a review of the literature regarding timing of clamping and cutting the umbilical cord from the baby's perspective, discussing the consequences in particular for Aboriginal babies. Midwives and doctors are urged to rethink routine third stage management and apply evidence that benefits the health and wellbeing of babies (as well as their mothers), especially Aboriginal babies.

To view literature review, review findings, discussion and references, click here.

Conclusion 

Clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord at 3min following birth (including the need for resuscitation which can be conducted with the baby between the mother's legs while the cord is still patent and attached) is a safe option for optimal placental transfusion regardless of the baby's weight. This practice is completely cost effective (in the immediate and longer term) non-intervening and not harmful for mother or baby. An oxytocic could be administered if necessary to decrease maternal blood loss without needing to clamp and cut the cord. Every baby, and most importantly every Aboriginal baby, regardless of their gestation should have the right and significant advantages of their cord being clamped and cut 3min after their birth to achieve much needed reductions in infancy anaemia and essential increases in infant survival. Such a simple measure of patience and informed practice with such life enhancing advantages for all babies, especially Aboriginal babies, is vital. Keeping the cord patent and extending the time before cord clamping and cutting for at least several minutes after the birth of the baby, or preferably until cord pulsations cease, is recommended for all Aboriginal babies as an effective primary health strategy by midwives and doctors.

Placenta Rituals Around the World

Eat it, bury it, make art with it, burn it. Or, just throw it away. These are a few things that women in "Western" culture do with their placentas after their baby is born. Here are some other world culture rituals and beliefs regarding the placenta and umbilical cord (via birth.com.au):

• A tribe in Arizona dries the cord, and places beads onto it so the child can rub or bite it when teething.
• Aborigines used to make necklaces from the cord for the child to wear, representing growth and aimed at warding off disease.
• In Kenya, Masai midwives chew the cord with their teeth to separate the cord from the placenta. The midwife then pronounces, 'you are now responsible for your life as I am responsible for mine'.
• In Yemen the placenta is placed on the family’s roof for the birds to eat, in the hope that it will guarantee the love between the parents.
• In Malaysia the placenta is seen as the child’s older sibling and thought that the two are reunited at death. The midwife carefully washes the placenta, cord and membranes and wraps them in a white cloth to be buried.
• In Nepal, the placenta is given the name ‘bucha-co-satthi’ – meaning ‘baby’s friend’
• The Tanala people of Madagascar observe strict silence throughout the labour and birth and as the placenta is being delivered. When the placenta comes, everyone present claps and shouts “Vita! Vita!” – meaning ‘finished’.
• In Sudan the placenta is considered to be the infant's 'spirit double' and can be buried in a place that represents the parents' hopes for their child (e.g. close to a hospital to become a doctor).

Placenta Sandwiches

A while back I wrote one of my first posts on eating your placenta.

I recently came across another blogger's post called "An Argument for Eating Your Placenta"

Its talks more about what I touched on - benefits of eating your placenta and so forth. I particularly liked this paragraph:

Picture this. You are living in a time before iron supplements. It is a time when the best sources of iron are found in organ meat, a time when you don’t have the luxury of saying “yuck, organ meat.” You have just given birth. Your husband is out hunting and no one knows when he will be back. All there is to eat is bread. You have lost a lot of blood and you are very hungry. Thank goodness for your placenta. Doesn’t it make sense that nature would supply a new mother with a certain form of replenishing nourishment in case of uncertain times?

This made me  have a random thought - would a vegetarian eat their own placenta?

Eating your placenta doesn't go against any of the usual arguments for vegetarianism, mainly moral consideration for animals (no animals are treated poorly or killed) and environmental destruction and distributive justice (no animals were raised in an environmentally harmful or wasteful way to create the placenta, except maybe ourselves). The health argument is a bit iffy... you could say that eating your own body part doesn't pose quite the same health risks as eating the meat of another creature, such as the other animals potential illnesses or bacteria the meat picked up before it gets to you, but you might say that eating meat at all is less healthy than eating plants and a strict vegetarian/vegan diet is simply the healthiest and that's that.. There's also the thought that if eating an animals flesh is bad eating human flesh is just cannibalism, although on the other hand, even veggie-only eating animals eat their own placenta! And the placenta provides you with iron and hormones that are produced by you and beneficial to you, so there are some health benefits right there. I suppose if you were swayed enough by the potential benefits than you might, as a vegetarian, eat your own placenta after these considerations...

Thoughts, anyone?

To Eat your Placenta or not to Eat your Placenta...

Thank goodness now that you're done with the baby birthing and newborn adjustment you can finally think about what fun things you can do with your placenta!

Interestingly, this is a big decision for a lot of women. Many women like to freeze their placenta in order to keep it safe for what they can do with it next. Some women make placenta prints which usually end up looking like trees.

Another idea is to bury it under a tree. Or you could have a Lotus birth - leave the baby attached to the placenta until the cord dries up and falls off on its own.

And yet another popular option is to EAT IT a.k.a. placentophagia. Many animals eat their own placenta, for various reasons, including the fact that it contains oxytocin (happy-feeling drugs), which, among other things, make you happy about your new baby!
Supposedly placentophagia also helps prevent postpartum depression and contract the uterus after the birth.

An alternative to placenta lasagna or placenta smoothie is Encapsulation - the placenta is dried, ground, and encapsulated so that you can ingest it like vitamins. You can take them for as long as you need them, and then even save them for menopause if you like!

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I think burying the placenta under a tree is nice - circle of life and so forth - but I don't know if I could take a pill and not think about the fact that it was once my own organ. Thoughts?