Laree Lindburg had an enjoyable and healthy pregnancy, but the hormonal crash following the birth left her feeling terrible. Her postpartum experience was difficult due to rheumatoid arthritis, which seemed to flare up during her postpartum recovery, making her achy and sick. When Laree discovered she was pregnant again, she was immediately attracted to the benefits of placenta encapsulation to ease her postpartum recovery.
Laree Lindburg’s experience was positive and she claims to have felt the benefits thousands of other new moms are claiming; energy, balanced mood and increased milk supply.
The research on the benefits of placenta encapsulation is still in its infancy, but the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Mark Kristal, a psychology and neuroscience professor at the University of Buffalo has been studying placentophagia for nearly 40 years. While he states there is significant benefit of placenta for non-humans, there is no evidence for the practice in humans.
“There’s no evidence at all that women are or have been attracted to the stuff,” he said, noting that there also is no evidence that any past or present cultures have ever eaten placenta “as a routine part of the culture.”-Kristal
Kristal also says there may be components in the placenta and amniotic fluid that could be of use and benefit to new mothers, but he doesn’t believe ingesting placenta is a proper way of getting those nutrients.
” Scientists, he said, should work to identify the molecule or molecules in afterbirth that could produce beneficial effects and either extract or synthesize them so they could be used to make a pain medication.”
Kristal would rather have mothers take synthetic placenta produced by drug companies than their baby’s placenta, which contains their own hormones. Personally, I’d rather trust Mother Nature.