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Call it a fad, trendy, or something crunchy-moms do, but an increasingly large number of women are choosing to consume their placenta after birth. Citing improved mood, increased energy levels, reduced pain, and even increased milk production, many women swear by the practice termed placentophagy.

I’m not going to tell you what to do with your baby’s placenta after birth. If the doctor lets you have it, and you would like to encapsulate it, sauté it, or even ink it to make placenta prints, that is your decision to make. But you should at least know whether scientists have found any health benefits to consuming it.

Over the last several decades, human maternal placentophagy (postpartum ingestion of the placenta by the mother) has emerged as a rare but increasingly popular practice among women in industrialized countries seeking its many purported health benefits.

Placenta pills may be all the rage for new mothers in recent years, but their benefits may be more limited than many believe. A new study finds that women who practiced maternal placentophagy didn’t see any notable improvements when it came to their mood, ability to bond with their baby, or fatigue level.

As science teaches us, the human placenta is the organ responsible for metabolic exchanges between the mother and the fetus. It consists of a maternal part, or Basal Decidua, which develops from the maternal tissue, and from a fetal part, ie the corion frondosum that develops from the same blastocyst that forms the fetus.

Consuming the placenta (in pill form) after childbirth has been an increasingly popular trend in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and the United States. But a study by the University of Navada, Las Vegas, (UNLV) suggested it does not have as many health benefits as expected.