As ‘placenta encapsulation and consumption’ has been featured in the news recently thanks to celebrity endorsement, linking it to group B Strep, we thought it would be helpful to make our position on placenta consumption clear.
Our Medical Advisory Panel‘s view is this:
“The practice of ‘placenta consumption’ is increasingly attracting attention. The hope is that consuming your placenta helps with postpartum depression, replenishes vitamins and restores hormones. However, the practice is unregulated, there is an absence of evidence of benefit, and there is evidence of potential harm.
Our Medical Advisory Panel does not recommend placental consumption since there is no scientific evidence of benefit and there has been one report suggesting potential harm. The Centre for Disease Control in Oregon in 2016 reported that, following her mother’s consumption of the placenta that was encapsulated and freeze-dried, a newborn infant was infected with group B Strep and the same bacteria was found in the placenta capsules. Our medical advisory panel considers it unlikely that dried placental capsules would be the primary cause of GBS infection but at present, such a possibility cannot be entirely discounted. As there is currently no scientific evidence of benefit from consuming dried placenta capsules, many women may prefer to ‘be on the safe side’ and avoid taking them.”
You can read the article referred to above here.
