Placenta Encapsulation III: Breastfeeding Help

This is the third post of this Science Friday series which explores placentophagia- the act of eating the placenta after birth. While this can take several forms for humans, one of the most common is through placenta encapsulation. This post analyzes several theories that have been proposed as the cause of placentophagia.  Check out the other posts here.

       The placenta plays an invaluable role in breastfeeding. Indeed, in all cases of lactation, whether placentophagia is involved or not, it is the birth of the placenta that initiates the body’s production of milk.   This afterbirth triggers the productions of hormones that start the production of breast milk.  (Lieberman, 2011) In Traditional Chinese Medicine, placentophagia is used to foster the mother and baby’s breastfeeding relationship by increasing the mother’s milk supply.  Recent studies have sustained this belief by demonstrating the placenta’s power in increasing milk supply. 

                Using mothers with whom doctors anticipated breastfeeding difficulties, researchers at Charles University in Prague, demonstrated that consuming the placenta increased milk production.  In this study, 210 mothers who had recently given birth consumed dried placenta within a period of two days.  Some mothers completed treatment immediately following delivery, while one mother waited two months to start treatment.  No mother experienced any negative symptoms, to include stomach pains or nausea.  In fact, some mothers enjoyed the taste!  Over 30% of mothers saw an increase of one ounce of milk in one feeding, and nearly 56% saw an increase of at least .7 ounces in one feeding.  The finding indicate that these early successes in breastfeeding continued, and many of the women in the study breastfed for many months.

                While these results are clearly a boon for mothers who want to breastfeed, the researchers findings do not immediately demonstrate what about placenta causes an increase in milk production.  Knowing that placenta is a high source of quality protein, the researchers gave another group of woman beef in a form identical to that of the placenta.  However, only one-third of these women experienced an increase in milk production, far less than the group that consumed placenta, leading the researchers to agree that the protein is not the source of the milk increase.  Using urine tests that measure progesterone and other hormones in postpartum women, the researchers currently believe that the hormones in placenta are the primary cause of increases in milk supply. 

 

Placenta Encapsulation II: Why Would I Do That?

This is the second post of this Science Friday series which explores placentophagia- the act of eating the placenta after birth. While this can take several forms for humans, one of the most common is through placenta encapsulation. This post analyzes several theories that have been proposed as the cause of placentophagia.  Check out the first post here.

   The previous post discussed some of the theories that are used to explain placentophagia.  I am not very convinced by any of those theories. However, I find the evolutionary and physiological reasons very impressive, and they actually convinced me to have placenta encapsulation done following labor and delivery.  

     The evolutionary and physiological reasons for placentophagia are primarily observed through maternal behavior.  Some observations, while relatively weak, indicate an increased attachment behavior between mother and infant.  Much stronger evidence supports the positive effects that placentophagia has on lactation, presumably because the placenta’s high estrogen and lactogen content.  As an avid proponent of breastfeeding, I find this finding one of the most compelling arguments for placentophagia.  Mothers currently face countless obstacles to breastfeeding; consequently, I find any method of easing a new mom’s breastfeeding journey is immeasurably important! 

        Another evolutionary effect, although one that may not yet be possible in humans, is the placenta’s impact on the maternal immune system.  Because the fetus and fetal placenta contain aspects of both the mother and the father, a mother’s immune system could reject some antigens found in the fetus’s blood.  In humans, this is observed when an Rh negative mother is carrying an Rh positive fetus.  During her first pregnancy, she creates antibodies to fight this seemingly invading species.  These antibodies could potentially harm future Rh positive fetuses.  Humans receive can receive a Rhogam shot to counteract this reaction.  In other mammals, however, placentophagia may serve to block the creation of the antibodies.  In this way, nature has provided a way to ensure the survival of mama and babies.  As someone who requires a Rhogam shot (I just had my third a few days ago!) and who hates shots, I’m hoping for more research on this topic for human use!

Source:
Kristal, M.B. (1980). Placentophagia: A biobehavioral enigma. Neuroscience and Biohehavioral Reviews, (4)141-150.

Placenta Encapsulation I: Why Would I Do That?

I haven't shared much on these pages, but I have been completing a wide-range of research for my upcoming labor and delivery. I thought I would use this space to share some of the research I've completed. This is the first post of our next Science Friday series which explores placentophagia- the act of eating the placenta after birth. While this can take several forms for humans, one of the most common is through placenta encapsulation. This post analyzes several theories that have been proposed as the cause of placentophagia.

Source: thefeministbreeder.com

     While nearly every mammal consumes its placenta after giving birth (a notable exception being marsupials who instead reabsorb the placenta, but do consume birth fluids), research has yet to conclusively find one overarching reason for placentophagia in mammals.  Currently, four theories are used to explain this seemingly innate mammalian behavior.  The first is that during birth, the mother, normally an herbivore, suddenly becomes carnivorous, only craving meat.  As someone who has previously given birth and has been a vegetarian for the past 12 years, I personally found this theory unlikely as I had no desire to eat meat following the birth of my first child, even when hospital’s dining facility continually ignored my vegetarian requests and primarily served me meat.  Like the rodents in studies that investigate this hypothesis, I still refused the meat!

                A second theory is that the mother simply craves food after following birth.  While any mother can attest to the fact that birth is certainly a physical feat that requires recovery, placentophagia has been observed in mammals that continue to eat throughout labor and delivery who, presumably, would not have an increase in hunger following the event.  The third theory again focuses on hunger, but this theory looks at a specific hunger for the placenta.  Research on this theory has been inconclusive as mammals that have not yet given birth will consume another animal’s placenta. 

                The final and perhaps most popular theory is that placentophagia is simply a way for mammals to maintain a clean nest in order to prevent the attraction of predators.  While this theory is straight-forward, it does ignore several refuting factors.  Firstly, as previously stated, nearly every mammal consumes its placenta.  This means that even the mightiest of predators, which are in little need to detract other mammals, takes the time to eat their placentas.  Secondly, animals who do not maintain a constant nesting site remain at the site of the birth to consume the placenta, actually putting themselves in greater risk of predators.  A final challenge to the nest theory, and the one I found most convincing, is the fact the placenta is not the only bodily expulsion during labor.  Blood and other amniotic fluids would also completely saturate the area, clearly leaving evidence of a nest, despite the removal of the placenta.  

       Each of these theories clearly has it's skeptics- check out next week's post to learn more evolutionary (and, in my mind, convincing) rationales!

Source:
Kristal, M.B. (1980). Placentophagia: A biobehavioral enigma. Neuroscience and Biohehavioral Reviews, (4)141-150.