While writing my previous post I stumbled across an article entitled "Oh. Wow. Turning placenta into pills for new moms [video]" The part that most terrified me was "[video]." My god...what terrors might be in store for me... But I knew I had to write about this bizarre practice on my blog, so, all for the sake of journalism (blogism?). Well, I had no idea. The terrors are boundless. There is no end to the traumatizing information available online regarding the ingestion of placenta. Did you know there is actually a term for it? "Placentophagy: the act of mammals eating the placenta of their young after childbirth." However, the picture on the Wikipedia page is a goat. Not a human.
The links that I turned up by simply searching for "eating placenta" were mind-boggling.
Now, if I separate the science part of my brain (however small) from the part of my brain that contains emotions and reactions, I can admit that this is somewhat fascinating. The fact that whatever is contained in that goopy mass of cells could be some sort of magical elixir to ward off postpartum depression, stimulate mammary glands, and contribute to the overall health of a mother after giving birth is pretty incredible.
That said, take a freaking vitamin! Don't bake placenta loaf--good god! If scientists can harness the power of the sun and offer us a tasty little vitamin D tablet, I'm sure they can figure out some sort of post-natal vitamin that is much more palatable.
And, like the writer of the initial article I encountered said, "be forewarned: Once you see a real, live cooked placenta, you cannot unknow it." Needless to say, this did not get me any more excited about viewing the video... But, there's a blog to write, so I press on.
I think the only thing that got me through this experience was the fact that the writer of my main source, Placenta, It's What's For Dinner was hilarious. (Thank you Joel Stein and Time Magazine) And every bit as skeptical and creeped out as I was. I should have just stayed with this article because in an article on momlogic.com, I encountered a super disturbing quote: "It's a good 6 lbs of meat that's just chock full of lingering blood, vitamins, and hormones that can still in part be transferred upon eating."
I'm not sure which part of that was worse for me. The word "meat" or the word "lingering." *shudder*
Long story short, this is just another reason I plan to keep my uterus baby-free. I do not want to be infected with whatever crazy hormone it is that causes women to fry up their own organs and eat them with noodles (Yeah, that happened. I saw the picture. My gag reflex is still going...)
Here are the links that traumatized me, in the event that you would like to know more about this strange phenomenon. But remember, curiosity killed the appetite.
Links about placenta eating and such
Placenta, It's What's For Dinner
"I Ate My Baby's Placenta"
including this disturbing quote:
"It's a good 6 lbs of meat that's just chock full of lingering blood, vitamins, and hormones that can still in part be transferred upon eating"
"Five Things You Never Thought to Do With Placenta"
Oh. Wow. Turning Placenta Into Pills
horrid. just horrid.
ReplyDeletebesides, why bother eating afterbirth when you have a nice, fresh baby at your culinary disposal?
Hahaha obviously the better choice
ReplyDelete