New mothers turning to 'cannibalism' by eating placentas after giving birth

When Caitlyn Jenner finally decides to take a leap into motherhood, she may not be as lucky as her stepdaughter Kourtney Kardashian to be able to convert her placenta into a five-star gourmet. Yes, you heard that right, a dish of placenta! This practice is known as human placentophagy.

Science may have given  Caitlyn femininity, but that does not come with a placenta. But why am I pre-occupied with placentas? You may ask. Well, it’s because there’s been a fad of new mothers eating up their placentas. The Kardashians might consider it yummy, because Kourtney feasted on hers after birth.

Apparently eating your placenta helps in better sleep, weight loss, breast milk production and even good mood.

No Kenyan woman has come out publicly with claims of partaking her placenta for the above or any other benefits. But still, if the Kardashians are doing it, Nai women might just jump into the bandwagon.

The fad of mothers turning on their placentas led to the creation of new businesses. One British woman, Kathryn Beale, led a venture that specialised in whipping fresh placenta into top-notch smoothies. She also prepared ground versions in capsules.

Placenta Encapsulation Network (IPEN), of which Kathryn is a member, told Mail Online that between 4,000 and 5,000 women had consumed their placenta in one form or another.

And it’s not only the Kardashians who have been hooked. January Jones ( of Mad Men) and Atomic Kitten singer, Natasha Hamilton, have also made a meal of their placentas.

However, it neither bolsters milk production nor cures post-natal depression. It actually does nothing as professed by celebrity placenta eaters.

Study findings released in June this year published in the periodical Archives of Women’s Mental Health, found that eating a placenta after birth does not stop depression or increase energy levels of new mothers. The placenta does have protein and fats. But those nutrients can be found in a healthy diet as well.

Dr Elly Odongo, the former chairperson of Kenya Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society (KOGS), believes that eating of placentas has all the hallmarks of cultural beliefs rather than scientific conclusion.

“Some communities ask for their placenta to take it back home,” he notes. “They don’t like it to be disposed of at a hospital. Superstition drives them to ‘own’ the placenta back because, as some may say, it assures them of continuity in the family.”

According to Dr Odongo, the placenta functions to keep pregnancy intact before nine months elapses, at which point a baby is born. “It produces a range of hormones to keep the pregnancy stable. One of them is oestrogen. Production of oestrogen suppresses the production of prolactin, the hormone responsible for milk production.”

In essence, he says, the placenta works against milk production. There is no basis for the argument that anything in the placenta increases milk production. On post-natal depression, Dr Odongo says there is no scientific proof to verify or negate the placenta offering remedy.

“It is all speculative. But it could be true. Science evolves and someday there may be proof to that effect. Currently though, anyone eating placentas would be doing so for reasons not known to medicine,” he adds.