Did you keep your placenta?

[desperatehousewife]

Just wondering if anyone kept their placenta? I didn't, but a friend of mine did and buried it under a tree that she planted in her garden. I have heard of people eating it...not sure if that is something I would want to do, but it is a good source of iron I suppose. The only catch with eating it is apparently to get the best iron, you have to eat it raw!!!

[KarniF00l]

I think it's a great idea to plant it under a tree.. but eating it :barf: Don't get me wrong i do respect the cultures that do eat it but it's something i couldn't see myself doing.

[**Nic**]

No, never kept any of my placenta's.

Just not something I even thought about doing

[SilverStarfish]

I wasn't the slightest bit interested in mine, past donating it for the cord blood. Ive heard of people planting them etc... whatever floats your boat.

[M O P]

http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=29565

here's a link to a recent discussion that might interest you

[Funkychicken]

As much as I respect those cultures that do eat it, and I do know a lady who did this, I can't get my head around it. But I have watched cow's eat the placenta after the birth of their calf!:barf:

[becca74]

We buried our DS4's placenta in the front garden of our house about a week or so after his birth....my other 3 were hospy births, so we didn't keep the placentas

and this will gross you out I am sure....

I hadnt planned on it, but after the birth, my midwife explained all the benefits of placenta munching to us, and she cut off about 100 small pieces (the size of a panadol tablet), rolled them in cling film and froze them for me, prescribing me 2 a day....You swollow them frozen, they go down quick and you cant taste a thing...

I havent had any baby blues (I got this with all of my 3 other babies, with DS3 it developed to ptsd) at all, in fact I didnt even get the obligatory teariness when the milk came in....it has been so great!

As gross as it sounds, I would recommend this to women who suffer/have suffered PND - surely the trauma of PND outweighs the grossness of eating placenta ......??

When you give birth, your zinc stores basically become immediately nil, and zinc is crucial for your feelings of wellbeing. Being so low on zinc contributes to illogical feelings of inadequacy and feeling overwhelmed - which is how a woman feels when she gets the baby blues (which obviously can blow up into PND). Taking zinc tablets immediately after birth is a good alternative, but the zinc (and other nutrients) in the placenta are more readily absorbed back into your body by consuming the placenta itself.....animals in the wild do it.....and arent we animals after all as well?

(you think I'm insane now hey! :laughing: )

[desperatehousewife]

Becca74,

Wow! I am glad to hear from someone who has actually done that! To be honest it wasn't something I was all that aware of until the midwife mentioned it. I knew about animals doing it though!

[MummyCharmzy]

wow I've never heard of that before how interesting! i can't imagine i could ever bring myself to do it but I understand if you're just swallowing it frozen it wouldnt be TOO bad.

Going to research that a bit more, now you've got me interested!

[Lisa&Davey]

Thanks for sharing that info Becca. Very interesting stuff. I didn't keep my placenta. I was fascinatd by it though and asked to be able to have a look at it.

[shed]

Mine took ages to deliver because I wanted to do it without the injection, but it took over 2 and a half hours or so and then I got so peeved that I asked for the injection.

When it came out i had a look and DP had a look and then we wanted to get rid of the flipping thing as soon as possible because it took so long to come out.

I walked over to the shower to try and get rid of it. I had the cord swinging out from between my legs as I walked around the room. LOL. Weird experience!

I was in awe of the placenta for what it had done for bubby and sort of thanked it respectfully in my mind when it came out but then just forgot about it.