Placenta Recipes

The section on eating your placenta is included for amusement only, and shouldn't imply that Mothers 35 Plus takes this seriously! However, if you have eaten your placenta, and/or have a genuine recipe then please let us know and we'll try to include it.

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Introduction

Most women will probably be aware of the age-old rumour that some mothers reputedly enjoy tucking into a nourishing meal of placenta after giving birth. Indeed it is commonplace for some cultures and, of course, many of our friends in the animal kingdom have always enjoyed it. However, to your average discerning human being it still doesn't seem that appealing a prospect. In the Western world it is accepted, although unproven, that eating placenta will reduce the risk of post-natal depression. This is because the organ is rich in minerals and vitamins, particularly B6, which can help to fight depression.

The criticism that a UK television show came in for a few years agao after showing the cooking and eating of a human placenta cannot have escaped the notice of many. The Broadcasting Standards Commission said that the programme has reportedly "breached convention" after an episode screened in February 1998, which showed a mother preparing and eating placenta pate to celebrate her daughter's birth. Incidentally, for those of you wishing to know how the "offending" placenta was cooked, it was fried with shallots and garlic, flambéed, pureed and served on focaccia bread. In fact it must have been pretty tasty as the father of the child was reported to have had seventeen helpings, though apparently, other guests on the programme were less enthusiastic!

The practice of eating placentas was also fashionable in the 1970s among so-called "earth mothers", but its popularity has since declined, with few mothers wanting to take their placentas home from hospital with them! Those people who agree with the practice of eating placentas argue that it is a perfectly normal thing to do, whilst those against are asking if a placenta belongs to the mother or the baby? If to the latter, this would imply cannibalism as pointed out by some of the nine viewers who complained about the television programme. However, during pregnancy the placenta is part of the mother, existing for the specific purpose of nourishing the baby until birth, after which it is expelled, ceasing to be part of her.