Image Credit: Pixabay Commons- The Placenta (aka baby bag)
The human placenta could be purchased in black markets in several parts of the World; some shady nurses/health practional managed to sell it to people who want it for charm/juju/voodoo or black magic and for consumption or medicinal uses as is it is used to cure some ailment in ancient traditional Chinese medicines. The latter is what I would be discussing in this publication, not the black magic part.
For as little as fifty dollars or a little above it (report from a local newspaper about a nurse caught selling placenta to people in West Africa), the baby bag as it fondly called could be purchased, it is the sack-like entity that comes after a baby is born and it is considered a medical waste. In the actual sense of it, nothing is really a waste, even the waste from the human body, not in this dimension we are, maybe in an alternate universe there are actual wastes!
From Wikipeadia, placentophagy is the act where mammals eats the placenta of their young ones (babies) after birth.
The ingestion of the human placenta postpartum comes in various forms ranging from consuming it raw, cooked, dried or immersed in spices. The mother and father of the new born baby could eat it alone or they share with their friends as reported.
Scientifically, eating the baby bag is a thing of mammals, since humans are mammals too, 99% of mammals practise this, both domesticated and in the wild. But with humans, it’s not often heard of some decades ago, aside ancient Chinese medicine. It is now a rising trend in the maternity world since some celebrity openly flaunts hers on an entertainment channel Television show.
IS THIS A FORM OF CANNIBALISM?
Is the placenta a part of the body? For female/pregnant women, it’s a YES! The placenta connects the foetus to the uterine wall and it’s also the barrier through which nutrients are supplied to the baby, and waste from the foetus passes into the mothers blood supply. So this makes it part of the human body, and as much as a bigger percentage of us humans consider cannibalism to be some form of abomination or taboo, some other portion might see it as a norm, while the smallest percentage might be indifferent about consuming human parts as meals or snacks.
Cannibalism is a downright norm in the wild (animal kingdom), only higher vertebrates (humans, Orang-utans etc.) seems to have some reservation about this act, Gorillas and Chimps, which are close relatives to humans practise cannibalism often, a fewer percentage of humans do also.
In contrast to eating of the human placenta, which supply food and air to the baby while in the womb, exporting waste product from the baby to the mother. These ties or human feature functions just like the lungs or any other internal parts of the body. Hence eating placenta after birth borders on cannibalism says Gynaecologists.
”Medically speaking, the placenta is a waste product, most mammals eat the placenta after birth, but we can only guess why they do so. Afterwards, the placenta is genetically part of the new-born, as stated eating it borders on cannibalism. The presumed nutrients why mother eat it like Iron, Selenium and Zinc are not present in particularly high concentrations- Dr Alex Farr, Gynaecologist from Medical University of Vienne” source
Increase in placenta consumption in human prompted a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr. Farr’s comment as quoted above were made as part of the study into this rising phenomenon which traditionally never raised concerns till celebrity Kim Kardishian was broadcasted live on her show “Keeping up with the Kardishans”, she was seen taking her placenta that has been processed into pills.
Human placenta consumption is a phenomenon with mixed feelings in the health sector, some Gynaecologist are against it claiming it does more harm than any presumed good to the body, while some encourages maybe for monetary reasons. Whether therapeutic or myth, the act of consuming the baby bag has been condemned and applauded.
In either case, there is a downside (health concerns) in doing this for any mother out there, except you are a living “zombie”.
THE HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
For those without remorse for being a cannibal in the simplest form, since placenta consumption broadens on cannibalism, then you might be concerned about what harm it could do to the body than the mystified goods.
Gynaecologists who advocates for placenta consumption in human believe it prevents some pregnancy complications and postpartum depression. Although, this might be due to body type (works for some mothers and not to some), the anatomy of the subject as this is not clinically proven, maybe the sole reason why some health professionals are not in agreement to this practise.
Agreed or not, there are potential risks in doing so, although it’s not a new thing in old Chinese medicine as stated earlier, this old school Chinese medicinal recipe is used to treat some internal organ defects/diseases, now mothers, fathers, husbands and even friends who share in consuming baby bags needs to be educated on the potential dangers.
WHAT CDC SAYS
Eating placenta after giving birth has no proven benefits according to the disagreeing portion of health professionals, The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned about the potential risks, in the course of preventing postpartum depression you might poison your blood instead.
How?
Any infections in the blood resides in the placenta, eating it puts the individuals at risk of ingesting such infections. It is more complicated for a person who eats other people’s placenta (purchased in black market, husband or friends to the new mother who wants to share their baby bags). As stated in the first paragraph of this article, some criminally minded nurses and health workers sells the placenta to people (those who wants to consume it and for voodoos/black magic).
Secondly, the risk extends to the baby been breast-fed as well as the mother. Bacterial and viral infections are also imminent aside blood poisoning.
Furthermore, there are hormones and toxic materials that accumulates in the placenta during pregnancy, no matter how high the temperature is in processing it, these toxic deposits can’t be neutralized with different degrees of heat (high or extremely cold temperatures), ingesting this toxins and hormones could be lethal.
“There are no standards for processing placentas for human consumption in the United States (or any other country), the CDC recommends avoiding placenta encapsulation (another means of ingestion) because it doesn’t necessarily remove the pathogens”- The Centre for Diseases control and prevention.
Another Case Study
At high temperature, when baby bags is been processed/cooked for a long time to kill bacterial and viruses, heavy metals and additional hormones dangerous to the body is deposited, it accumulates in the placenta during the heating at high temperature a study revealed.
The study further reveal that, although dangerous levels of toxins or hormones are found in the placenta, mothers who had consumed their baby bags often suffer headaches which could be traced to one heavy metal known as “Cadmium” that has coagulated in the placentas while under high temperature.
One in sixty mothers ask for placentophagy at the Weill Cornell Obstetrics Hospital, and Dr.Grunebaum who practises there thinks people who advise and endorse this practise are money motivated and a mother seeking what’s best for her baby would do anything advised no matter the cost.
In conclusion, speaking about animals in the wild, it is widely said and acceptable that the act of eating placentas by new born mothers (animals) is to hide any traces of childbirth from predators, but in human, I’m of the opinion that it is irrelevant and maybe a myth because the dangers are more visibly glaring from the few benefits says studies and some health professionals.
Thanks for reading.
References
Placentophagy: Therapeutic Miracle or Myth?
EATING PLACENTA AFTER BIRTH 'BORDERS ON CANNIBALISM', SAYS TOP GYNAECOLOGIST
CDC Case Report: If You Eat Your Placenta, This Can Happen
Healthline- Is Eating Your Placenta Safe?
Placentophagia
LiveScience- 'Don't Eat the Placenta,' Doctors Warn New Parents