what cultures eat placenta

Some cultures held superstitions regarding the placenta's connection either to the child's life, or the mother's fertility. Human placentophagy, or consumption of the placenta, is defined as "the ingestion of a human placenta postpartum, at any time, by any person, either in raw or altered (e.g., cooked, dried, steeped in liquid) form". (Indeed, some communities believe that the mother or child will be harmed if an animal, for instance, consumes the placenta.) In Chinese and Vietnamese cultures it is customary to consume the placenta. Reasons Why I Ate My Placenta. The placenta is a unique pregnancy organ which functions to sustain nutrition for the developing fetus. So it is not really clear why we've jumped from, okay, animals eat their placenta, there is some use of the placenta for treatment of ailments in other cultures, and how that translated then to moms should eat their placenta postpartum for postpartum complications such as postpartum depression or postpartum anemia. . Read on for Babcock's answers to your most pressing placenta questions. The following information about placenta history and placental traditions and cultures that eat or bury the placenta was sourced from a New Zealand website called Birth to Earth who support the native ceremony of placenta burial. While these cultures tend to eat placenta as it is in stir-fries and stews or boil it to drink the broth, Western cultures have adopted this notion by dehydrating the placenta, breaking it down into a powder, and encapsulating it, or steeping it in alcohol to make a tincture. Halakhah deals extensively with both human and animal placenta. Throughout history, many cultures have eaten the human placenta (placentophagy) and eating the afterbirth is common in the animal kingdom. 1. What cultures eat the placenta? "But we only found one culture where eating the . Eating the Placenta - Placentophagia. But, contrary to popular belief, placentophagy is rare in human history and across the cultures. Ancient Egyptians, as well as some other cultures, believed that the placenta is the child's secret helper or guardian angel2. A: In certain cultures, healers use the placenta to target certain health conditions. Attached via the umbilical cord to the fetus' navel, the placenta is a unique organ and the foremost physical bond between mother and offspring. …the placenta, though simply dismissed and discarded as biological waste in some cultures, is considered sacred and given much reverence in many African traditions… By Nicole Philips-Kemenanabo The placenta is a pancake-shaped organ which develops during pregnancy, beginning its growth in the fourth week. Do some cultures eat the placenta? Some women will eat the placenta raw at birth to help with hemorrhage. The recipe we used was a riff on a medicinal Chinese chicken soup recipe. For centuries the placenta has received ceremonial handling by many cultures around the world. In a review of cross-cultural traditions of 179 human societies the authors found a "… conspicuous absence of cultural traditions associated with maternal placentophagy..". Chinese mothers boil it and drink the broth to improve their milk production . If the baby was a girl the placenta was buried underneath her parents' bed, but if it was a boy it was buried with greater honor under the central column of the house. Eating the placenta is also an accepted ritual in certain cultures. Many cultures have traditions to honor the placenta for its important role during pregnancy, typically by burying it and performing a ceremony. Gersh said that some traditional Chinese and Vietnamese cultures centuries ago prescribed using the placenta but there's no evidence of widespread use. (Indeed, some communities believe that the mother or child will be harmed if an animal, for instance, consumes the placenta.) The practice of eating placenta, or "placentophagy," is common in the animal kingdom. Do humans eat placenta? Some parents choose to eat the placenta after birth. Who eats human placenta? Placentophagy or placentophagia, the postpartum ingestion of the placenta, is widespread among mammals; however, no contemporary human culture incorporates eating placenta postpartum as part of its traditions. Among the Hmong culture of Southeast Asia, the word for placenta can be translated . Cannibalism is eating the same species while anthropophagy is eating human flesh. Some mammals, including cats, eat their . Some people even promote cooking and eating it as a celebration of birth and a source of rich nutrients. The placenta is a source of natural hormones, trace elements and amino acids. The placenta is the structure that the fetus thrives off of. You can eat your placenta and this is a growing trend amongst mums due to the potential benefits. Human moms do it, too, including tribal women and glamorous celebrities. There are even meal-like recipes for cooking placentas, including placenta stew, placenta lasagna, power drinks with blended placenta and others. Placentophagy 101: How and why do people eat their placentas? Answer (1 of 4): [Different people will have different, even strong feelings, on the appropriateness of this practice, and the scientific world has little evidence as to whether it is a good health idea. Cord-cutting practices could involve a variety of substances and diverse types of tools to cut the cord, for example one health worker said: (Mothers) say to us they have used sickle to cut the cord or razor blade…and then apply sometimes antiseptic, cooking oil, ghee (butter), toothpaste, ash or . Human placentophagy Although the placenta is revered in many cultures, there is scarce evidence that any customarily eat the placenta after the newborn's birth. Historically, eating placentas have been associated with curing infertility, hastening labor, aiding in lactation, preventing afterpains, removing birthmarks and scars, curing epilepsy and as a form of birth control. During abdominal ultrasounds, the placenta, connected to the growing foetus through […] It is something which existing research indicates is done almost exclusively by married, heterosexual, middle- or upper-class white women in the Global North. No participant mentioned eating the placenta. It supplies the fetus with nutrition from the mother and eliminates waste from the fetus . It's full of good stuff. Those aquatic mammals that give birth to babies inside water are not so well-seen feeding on the placenta. It connects to the baby via the umbilical cord in order to . Is eating the placenta beneficial? Q: Why are women eating their placentas? Instead, women may . The researchers added that there was no evidence in clinical studies supporting the purported benefits of placenta eating. Cats and other animals may eat their placenta but there are no major human cultures who view placental ingestion as an essential part of the postpartum period. Throughout history, many cultures have eaten the human placenta (placentophagy) and eating the afterbirth is common in the animal kingdom. Here we explore the benefits of the nutrients found in a human placenta and why many mothers in different cultures actually eat the placenta after giving birth. But, should you be eating your baby's placenta? Use of the placenta in the postpartum period is re-gaining popularity among some women in the US, Canada and Europe for no good reason. Askinglot.Com < /a > the placenta is an organ that is inside uterus... 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what cultures eat placenta