The Kardashians did it, but would you? Eating human placenta – we look at the pros and cons

What do Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, January Jones and Alicia Silverstone have in common? Besides being Hollywood celebrities, they are among a growing number of Western women who have eaten their babies’ placenta. ““Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good,” the older Kardashian sister wrote in her blog in December 2015, while Jones revealed in an interview that eating her baby’s placenta helped prevent postnatal depression.

A peek into China’s thriving black market for human placentas

Theirs are not new claims. The medicinal properties of the placenta were first reported in China in the 1500s, and in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), consuming one’s placenta is thought to have a host of benefits, from balancing the hormones, aiding postnatal recovery, reducing bleeding and increasing breast milk production. The placenta is typically steamed before being dehydrated and put into capsules (called ziheche, or “purple river vehicle”, in TCM), although some mothers have also consumed their placenta fresh or frozen.

The placenta is the organ connecting a fetus to its mother’s womb. In addition to being a barrier that protects against infection, it transports oxygen and nutrients from the mother and helps remove chemicals and waste products that can harm the fetus. Many animals are known to consume their placenta after giving birth, but until recently, human placenta was deemed clinical waste and routinely discarded.

According to Cristina Tahoces, a nutritionist at the Hong Kong-based Thrive Nutrition Practice, the argument for consuming the placenta is that it can help boost a new mum’s emotional well-being. “After delivery, hormone levels in new mothers drop dramatically,” she explains. “In some, this can trigger a hormonal imbalance and lead to postnatal depression. I know mothers who have consumed their placenta in capsule form and swear by it. But so far I’ve only heard anecdotal evidence to support these benefits.”

To date, there haven’t been any reliable scientific studies to back up the anecdotal evidence. “Women who advocate eating placenta get information from their friends and the media, but there are no good studies out there to support their claims, so we can’t really say that the practice has any real benefits,” says Dr Charas Ong, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at The Women’s Clinic in Central.

In fact, consuming placenta, also known as placentophagy, is thought to be harmful. This June, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a case of a newborn having developed recurrent group B Streptococcus sepsis. The baby’s mother had been taking placenta capsules thrice daily, and the capsules were later found to be the source of the baby’s infection.

The CDC later hypothesised that the placenta had not been adequately treated before being made into capsules. “The placenta can contain bacteria,” says Ong. “Even viruses, like HIV, Zika and hepatitis can remain in the organ after the mother has given birth, and heat treatment may not necessarily remove them.” Certain toxic substances, like prescription drugs and mercury, can also remain in the placenta tissue and potentially harm the mother if ingested.