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The Joy of Placenta – bon appétit! Tweet
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Placenta, yum!
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Okay, this may be a squeamish topic for some – there are people out there who DO keep their placenta after giving birth to their children. Some bury it, some keep it in the freezer (and have absolutely no idea what to do next), some make art works out of it, some well… cook it and eat it! I fall into the last category and share my experience and recipe below!
Although the placenta is revered in many cultures, very few customarily eat the placenta after the newborn’s birth. Those who advocate placentophagy, the eating of one’s placenta, in humans, mostly in modern America and Europe, Mexico, Hawaii, China, and the Pacific Islands believe that eating the placenta prevents postpartum depression and other pregnancy complications. The most general benefit of placentophagy, according to recent research, is that placenta and amniotic fluid contain a molecule (POEF, Placental Opioid-Enhancing Factor) that produces an enhancement of the natural reduction in pain that occurs shortly before and during childbirth.
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I’m not one of the brave ones who dare to make spaghetti sauce out of placenta meat and eat it with pasta, however, I was very intrigued by the rumoured nutritional qualities of placenta and after all most mammals eat their own placenta! After experiencing a terribly long and tiring recovery period for my first birth, I decided that I would try and harness the nutritional qualities of my second placenta to aid in my recovery from my second birth.
Step-by-Step
Thanks to the internet and a friend that I made from an online forum who shared with me her experience with preparing placenta, this is what I learnt to do with it:
First, you have to freeze or chill the placenta as soon as possible after delivery. As my second child was born at home, I really wanted to chuck it into the freezer right after it popped out but my doctor indicated that he wanted to examine the placenta at the hospital so my doula put it into a freezer bag with ice packs (which she had prepared in advance) and took it to the hospital for us. She later took it home to freeze it for us and then sent it back to my place after my discharge from the hospital.
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Cleaning it
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Next, you have to clean it really well. If chilled, prepare the placenta as soon as possible to ensure freshness. If frozen, do allow time to thaw completely. My confinement nanny graciously helped me to do this. We weren’t really sure if there was a “proper” method of washing the placenta so we just rinsed it several times until the water ran clear (slightly pink instead of dark red). There was a huge blood clot/bloody tissue which my nanny threw away but in retrospect, I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to keep that piece of blood piece.
Now, some people find the smell of placenta a little urrgh, so the nice folks at Eu Yan Sang (actually somebody called Mr Ang who is quite knowledgeable about placenta preparation) gave me a small packet of herbs to use with it:
After squeezing half a lemon over the placenta and adding a capful of DOM (if you like), throw the herbs over the placenta together with a few slices of ginger (all these will help to dispel the unpleasant smell).
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Preperation
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The next thing to do is to steam it over low heat for 20 minutes on each side (i.e. you steam it for 20 minutes, then turn the placenta over and steam again for another 20 minutes):
Now what you need to do is to wait for it to cool down a bit and then slice it into thin pieces – as thin as you can – sort of like making beef jerky:
Place the placenta strips on wax paper or a metal tray to dry out in the sun (best method), in an air-conditioned room but do watch out for dust and ants or in a food dehydrator/oven on lowest setting.
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Dry the strips
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You have to make sure that the strips are completely dry. One good indicator is that the strips should feel brittle to the touch before pounding them into powder for consumption. Some people choose to eat this powder by adding it to soup while cooking. I preferred to have it sent to Eu Yan Sang where they powdered the dried strips for me and then encapsulated the powder together with some ginseng for my consumption:
Tip: Try encapsulating the placenta powder together with some ginseng (pao sheng) or cordyceps if you don’t want the smell of placenta to be too overpowering…..
And there you go, voila, you could swallow your placenta in tablet form and not have the queasy feeling of sinking your teeth into a nice, juicy, thick steak of placenta. Bon apetit!
You can read more interesting posts from Vanessa Teo, mummy of two, on her blog!
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WOw. this is so interesting!
I think i shall try it…was thinking for long bout the preparations.
I heard it works as anti aging supplement as well. Any idea?
OMG. This article actually made me slightly sqeamish!
I didn’t even get a chance to see my own placenta because I had a C-sec and my doc forgot to show it to me even though I had requested to see it. My hubby, however, did see it and said it was HUGE.
Yikes! Oh my. You got guts girl!
Okay, the placenta pasta crosses the line. That video was awful!!!!!!!
I want to vomit! This is the reason we have such weird diseases.
You, Vanessa Teo, may I suggest you book an appointment to see your local psychiatrist. Utter rubbish and very disturbing.
I cannot believe this ridiculous article is allowed to be published in an otherwise well-informed, useful website for Asian parents.
No offense but I find this idea very sickening.
eyaaaakkkk…
Guys. Other animals eat their placenta to get nutrition. Humans are animals too…
We drink breast milk as well…same difference.
Is it really any stranger for a mum to eat her placenta, than for hospitals to sell placentas to cosmetic companies to be used in skincare products?
This is cannibalism – as it is human flesh and a part of your own body.
Actually i don’t know about mum eating her placenta for what good..but i heard before that powder placenta can be added to ur kid’s porridge when they are sick.Helps them recover faster.
good luck to you but i can’t help feeling sick reading ur experience here which is to me, an uncivilised lifestyle .. i don’t understand why someone has to eat their own bodypart and considered it to be healthy..naturally it’s meant to be out of your body..like a waste .. why put that back in, in other form? it’s your choice but i have to say something because it is made public. my ancestors died at nearly 100 years and my grandpa died at 104 without having to feed himself with rubbish like this. he has his teeth and hair still intact as well.
i cheer to your courage to eat it..in fact i am also one of those who intended to eat my placenta after my 2nd bb was borned but did not have the method to cook it. so i preserved it in a jar-as a specimen for my kids- to show them that the placenta is a miracle in the making-without it, they can never been born..hahah, i am also another mad one. my gynae and friends tell me that i am the first person they know to preserve my placenta like a science project…
thanks to your recipe, i will eat my next placenta
) mmmm…my cousin is giving birth in dec..maybe i will experiment your recipe with hers first
Tommy: Thousands of years of evolution, education and civilisation of the human race and you’re comparing us with… animals?
Grow up!: Stop believing in those silly hoax emails that your mates have been sending you. You believe in that, then you believe in anything.
Eh, what happened to the video? It’s…disappeared! *gasp*
no way…
all these bad pubicity and mis-information are really, for those who does not live in the 21st century. Come on, filter what you read! Reminds me of hannibal…
This article is interesting but may be offending to some. Appreciate if you put a ‘disclaimer’ note for posting this up. Plus, the recipe includes ginseng as one of the ingredients. Ginseng alone is a ‘strong’ ingredient and therefore may not prove that plasenta has nutritional benefits.
Totally agree with Chin Wan, it may be offending to some.
thats disgusting !
No, it’s not. I think it’s pretty damn cool!
So if your finger got chopped off by a machine by accident or otherwise….you’d take it home cook it and eat it ?
Dude. One is placenta which is filled with a mother to be’s nutrients and the other is a finger! What are u on abt!
Ok i think you should do a poll on this and tally the outcome. My bet is that more people will comment that its disgusting or at least not something they would even consider doing.
Hi Roshni,
Thank you for sharing this. Indeed a placenta is massively filled with tons of goodness. Unfortunately for me, on both occasions, it got buried. Though my uncle who carried out the burial later asked if I believe in consuming it. I was totally intrigued. We had a lengthy chat on the topic and seriously….It is not disgusting at all. I totally respect your choice and I am glad you have taken the steps to get them capsuled. Unfortunate indeed that I dread the experience to get pregnant the 3rd time round…so I shall scout around the chinese medical halls enquiring for such capsules…cause it may just be available. Nothing is of a waste. The placenta is the very source of nourishment that the foetus relies on while it grows. It is indeed a miracle that our body can produce such highly nutritious element within us during our pregnancy.
I’ve heard about this strange great sorcery from many lands away. They say the people in Many Lands eat their own placenta. Curiously enough this rumour has become a myth, and then a legend. My forefathers have always talked about it, but I’ve never seen it. Having seen it with my own two peepers, I can only say: “GREAT SCOTTS! JESUS TAP-DANCING … Read MoreCHRIST!”
Btw, it’s not disgusting. It’s kinda cool actually. My fiance wouldn’t eat it though.
uuurrrgggghhhhh…………..
sorry to say… it can be offending and hard to digest as a fact too…
erkkk
Well, cannibals should be sad to know that they no longer have the market cornered…
Lol…
yeah i agree with ritesh.. jus wondering what she did with the umblical cord ?
it’s my 1st time to encounter this kind of issue. personally, i find it disgusting. I’m sorry but im not just used to it.
Umbilical cord is being used to stuff sausage meat. All the blood that came out during childbirth is being stored in a container as an ingredient to make blood soup.
GEEZ, it is no wonder that we’re the laughing stock of the Western world when it comes to Asian “eating habits”. Well done!
How could you eat human discharge?????
What next we are going to start drinking vaginal and penis discharge smoothies?
Why not drink our own pee…got nutrients mah! Oh wait, in Singapore we do….hahahahaha…new water!
Vanessa..kudo for having the guts to share your experience and tell us how you actually process the placenta and consumed it. Although I am aware of the goodness but do not have the courage of handling and eating it.
Those throwing negative remarks… its her choice and why you had posted only show case your ignorant. Google about placenta if you do not know the goodness of this miracle of life ! Grow up !
Sick!!this is sick!! i dun understand such a well establish e-mag is allow to publish such article.
Seriously man how can anyone do this.
I would like to respect everyone’s decisions in life but to do this and then to put it up on the net?
Whats with this site?!
Hello everyone,
Sorry if anybody was offended or disgusted by what was shared here. I just wanted to clarify that, the original article had been posted on my personal blog to share with some mummy friends who were very intrigued by what I did with my placenta (they kept bugging me for the recipe, photos, etc etc). One day, the editor of this website contacted me to see if I would give them permission to share it on here, as they found it very interesting. I said okay, not really expecting anything much except maybe a passing reference to my blog or a link to my blog post. As you can see, even the article here has been edited from the original version on my blog. I didn’t write the article to be published here nor did I send it in to be considered for publishing, just in case you’re wondering
If it makes people uncomfortable, I’m sure the editors will be happy to remove it…
Although I won’t try eating the placenta, I think this is an interesting article.
Hi readers,
I know some of you are taken aback by this article, displeased, etc. But theAsianparent stands by our decision to publish it. We are a prochoice company and media publishing house. Our aim is to bring to light controversial issues in Singapore and talk about them, raise awareness, all whilst promoting Asian culture. We believe that as long as it does not break the law, it is up to the individual to make their own choices, be it bottle-feeding, single parenting, abortions, vaccinations, ligations, etc.
And personally, we do not see anything wrong with the practice of eating one’s placenta.
Thank you for this article. I really enjoyed it. I haemorraged after my son’s birth, and I was advised to consume my placenta. I did so, and my doctor could hardly believe how quickly my blood levels returned to normal. Not a bit of postpartum depression, either! There just might be something to this practice. After all, like the article says, most mammals eat their placentas.
Hey Vanessa,
Never ever feel compelled to apologise for people’s reaction. You should stick up for your belief. I totally admire your and respect you for being able to do what’s best for you and your body, no matter how squirmish you found it.
My hats off to you!
Thank you theAsianparent for finding this gem of a story and publishing it!
It was a very good read. And I’m quite amazed by the mum. The lady has balls. Lol!
Thats a new way to eat the placenta. I am currently in Australia right now (no less an Asian) and have gone through their antenatal classes. The midwife actually said people do blend the placenta with raspberry cordial and drink it. Apparently it is good. Trying to get my husband to do it, but he is too disgusted at the idea. I think people here do Lotus Birthing. You might want to Google more on that.
Dear Vanessa and editorial team,
thanks for publishing this article! I am indeed very interested to process my placenta and apparently there are at least three companies in Singapore, who do processing placenta into capsules (that may take by surprise most of the above disgusted readers I guess…). However I did not feel comfortable to let other people ‘play’ with my placenta and I prefer to be in charge of it myself. But I had no idea how to do it! Thanks a lot for sharing and do not get discouraged by people who have absolutely no idea what they talk about.
WTF, what is wrong with you people? You do know just because something is healthy for you doesn’t mean you should eat it….have boundaries people!
HOW! did you find a nanny willing to help you clean a placenta?
People need to understand that a placenta is not very much a body part although it is, to me its a part of the birthing process, it has to come out after all. And if it can be used to make cosmetics, I am sure it can be used as tonic.
It’ll be funny if some of you went up to your mothers or girlfriends and say, “Uncivilized, why do you use placenta base cosmetics on yourself! You’re an animal!”
You cannot compare it to fingers, breasts, penis or feet and so on. So please, no one will cut off their penis, fingers and so on to make tonic. Cause I am sure it doesn’t have any medical use to cut off those parts, not saying I know the placenta has any medical use or benefit but it seems it does.
And being civilized doesn’t mean you cant do this. It is true that most animals eat their own placenta, why? I believe it’s to the benefit of the mother considering she lost so much blood during the birthing process. And since when we’re not animals? Just because we’re civilized and educated means we’re above “animal”? Because there are still some civilized and educated people who behave like animals who are at the bottom of the list.
It’s also not fair to say that Asians have weird eating habits. People in the European countries also have weird eating habits. Some eat insects, armadillos and some even eat inedible stuff like glass, nails and so on?!
It’s the culture we’re all brought up to believe and live in. If it is not to your liking, don’t read too much into it or for that matter follow. Infact, i think the hospital should pay us a little for the placentas we leave behind, considering they sell them to cosmetic companies.
It’s not about the content, it’s always about the intent. At least no one was hurt or nothing against the law was done in this process of making placenta pills (like giving birth to a baby and selling it to a foetus soup shop?). So don’t be all squirmish and rude when people have their own views on what beneficial food is. And I think the “penis and vagina discharge smoothies” is really dumb and shows how much matter you have up there in that head of yours.