View Full Version : do people really eat placentas?
aussiepunkshocker
06-11-2007, 04:33 AM
Not uncommon these days - my best friend is a midwife and we talk about this sort of thing quite a bit, lol.
^^
that makes sense preserving it with salt.
I'm interested to know how common this is.
aussiepunkshocker
06-11-2007, 04:35 AM
A couple of people I used to chat to on a punk parent list made soup with their placentas. I dont think you physicly have to munch on it to get the nutrients if you dont want to :)
Even though it seems all beneficial and healthy, I am having a hard time with the thought of eating my placenta. Jess wants to do it. Maybe I will serve it to him...I'm still not quite sure if I could eat it myself. I've seen the things that have come out of my uterus in the past and it's not exactly appetizing. I am really intrigued now though because I didn't know it helped with postpartum hormones.
We also thought of doing a Lotus Birth. My midwife explained that it only stays on for 3 days and you treat it with salts and other things to preserve it so that it stays fresh. They make these bags for them and you just carry both the baby and placenta for the few days rather than clean the cord stump on their navel for over a week. My fear is that I will pick up the baby and forget about the placenta and it will pop off too soon or something. Otherwise I would totally do the Lotus Birth.
Sirona
06-11-2007, 06:15 AM
IN all seriousness there are two reasons mammals consume the placenta after the birth.
One, they tend to be unable to leave the new babies for a bit to find food plus there's always some blood loss with a birth. It replaces iron and provides the means to continue producing colostrum/milk until they could get to food again.
Two, leaving a placenta lying around leaves the scent of a wounded or otherwise weak animal so eating it gets rid of the risk of attracting unwanted predators.
jaizaine
06-11-2007, 06:24 AM
^^
very true.
As humans we have access to good nutrition so the only reason for consuming the placenta is preference.
AlexxaHex
06-11-2007, 01:44 PM
Maybe Jess could make it into something appetizing for you and you could not look at it first? My friends husband made it into a smoothie kinda thing for her...
Yeah...more than likely I will at least end up trying it if he's going to eat it. I'll let y'all know what happens. :-\
Lola Rose
06-11-2007, 02:21 PM
something that came out of your own body is exceptionally revolting. Eating something that came out of someone else's body is beyond comprehension.
So I take it you don't swallow? ;D
Optimist
06-11-2007, 04:12 PM
:eye-poppi :ill: :hypnotize
:rotfl: OH LORD Lilith, you had me rolling with the faces!!;D
aussiepunkshocker
06-11-2007, 04:33 PM
Thats debatable, very debatable :)
^^
very true.
As humans we have access to good nutrition so the only reason for consuming the placenta is preference.
Dottie Rebel
06-11-2007, 04:51 PM
^^
very true.
As humans we have access to good nutrition so the only reason for consuming the placenta is preference.
I dunno, maybe I'm just a freak but I don't see what is so crazy about it. Placenta is useful. I haven't looked into it much because none of it applies to me, but if I thought carrying the placenta around for three days would give my young a better chance in life, you think I wouldn't do it just because it's "icky" or not socially acceptable? Fuck that.
The sterlization of the birth process is so 1950s to me. There's blood and fluid and and all sorts of "gross" body things. That's birth. It's been going on for quite a while now. Trying to keep it all neat and clean and sheild yourself from all the "yucky" bits seems silly to me.
Dottie Rebel
06-11-2007, 04:53 PM
Plus, not everyone in the world (not by FAR) has access to good nutrition. So is it just something for poor, third world people to do, and we're more civilized than that?
I think we shoot ourselves in the foot with our desire to be "civilized".
Yekhefah
06-11-2007, 05:07 PM
^^^ Good point, just look at all the "upper-class" women who've bound their breasts and given their babies to nursemaids or fed them formula, just because breastfeeding wasn't "civilized." Nevermind that it's much better for mother and baby, it's better to violate nature so we can pretend we're not animals!
Dottie Rebel
06-11-2007, 05:22 PM
^^^ Good point, just look at all the "upper-class" women who've bound their breasts and given their babies to nursemaids or fed them formula, just because breastfeeding wasn't "civilized." Nevermind that it's much better for mother and baby, it's better to violate nature so we can pretend we're not animals!
That's exactly what I was thinking. There've been plenty of times in history when breastfeeding, a "disgusting," base bodily function, was something for the uncivilized masses to sully themselves with. Well, those babies suffered dearly for it.
Sirona
06-12-2007, 04:18 AM
Nevermind that it's much better for mother and baby, it's better to violate nature so we can pretend we're not animals!
Hey man, don't look at me. I've always been more than willing to accept that humans are animals just like all the other mammals. ;D
Yekhefah
06-12-2007, 07:09 AM
Yeah, fortunately things are changing!