The Story behind the Song

On Wednesday our midwife asked us, "Have you given any thought about what you'd like to do with the placenta?" There are a variety of options - throw it out, freeze it for an unspecified future use, use it as fertilizer in the garden (perhaps under the future location of a special tree...the tree must be added later as the soil will be TOO RICH for it at first!), or...consume it.

OK, hold on. If you're anything like me, the first time you heard of "eating the placenta" you had an unpleasant mental image of chowing down on a lump of weird raw meat. "Yuck!" I thought. "Why would someone do such a thing?"

Turns out that my mental image was far from the truth, and there are actually good reasons for eating the placenta. It's not that different from eating liver or kidney (which, to be honest, I have had the same immediate reaction to - but people in the UK eat them regularly). Obviously, placenta is different because it's from a human. But it's also the only disposable organ that that human will ever make - can't say that about livers and kidneys.

Nearly every mammal in the world eats its placenta after childbirth (it's called "placentophagy"). What do they know that we don't? Science is beginning to understand that the material within the placenta has multiple positive effects on the postpartum mother. It is said to alleviate postpartum depression, aid in breastmilk production and lactation, act as a uterine tonic, and replenish nutrients lost during pregnancy.

How does one eat it? If you're feeling adventurous, try googling "placenta recipes" for a variety of culinary styles. (My midwife's assistant reportedly has an excellent recipe for placenta medallions in sauce.) The easiest one for me to deal with, since I'll still be taking vitamins several times a day anyway, is dried, powdered, and encapsulated. I have thought about this for months but was unable to find a local "placenta encapsulator" - yes, that's a real and certifiable job. Martin is being his usual incredible self and, after receiving instructions from the midwife, has volunteered to be my placenta chef. (Quote from Wednesday: "If I can cook a chicken, I can cook a placenta!")

I figure, it's not going to be used for anything else, and it is of the "can't hurt, might help" persuasion, so why not give it a try? Heck, I'm doing everything else the hippie way - might as well round it out with this, right?