• Question: Why do some humans eat the Placenta after birth?

    Asked by dramaqueen1 to Betul, Bridget, Ceri-Wyn, Laurel, Maria on 18 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Bridget Waller

      Bridget Waller answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Well, most mammals do this because it is a good source of nutrition and otherwise it would be wasted. I guess that some humans do this as a reflection on their evolutionary past, recognising this, but i don’t really know. Sounds a bit yuck to me…but each to their own!

    • Photo: Ceri-Wyn Thomas

      Ceri-Wyn Thomas answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Some people eat their placenta because it’s believed to be nutritious. Many mammals eat their placenta for that reason and to get rid of the smell and evidence of their recent birth episode incase predators are lurking nearby. many cultures believe that the placenta was a relative of the baby itself and might even bury the placenta. In Hawai’i I think they bury the placenta under a tree so it can ‘grow’ alongside the newborn baby!

    • Photo: Laurel Fogarty

      Laurel Fogarty answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Lots of animals do this. A female mammal spends a lot of energy and nutrients having a baby. A lot of those go in to the placenta to eventually feed the baby. When the baby is born, he no longer needs them so the mother may choose to re absorb the nutrients and proteins by eating the placenta. This helps a lot of animals survive when they cannot go hunting or foraging. I do have to say, however, that humans by no means have to do this- we have plenty of food!! so in the case of humans I’m not quite sure why they would choose to…

    • Photo: Maria Pawlowska

      Maria Pawlowska answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Actually they don’t really – I’m just reading a book on this 🙂 It’s mostly stories made up in the 1960’s – people started doing it because they believed that the hormones in the placenta are helpful.

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