CDC warns against eating placenta—in case you needed another reason

Placenta pills (credit: Dan Ox)

Some eat it raw, others cook it. Some make it into jerky, and others grind the cooked, dried remains into a brown powder and fill capsules.

However it's done, eating the placenta after childbirth is thought to ward off postpartum depression and boost milk production, among other things. There is no solid scientific evidence backing these benefits, though, and cooking it reduces the nutritional content. Nevertheless, the practice of eating the fetus-nourishing organ has strayed from the fringe in recent years, with celebrities such as January Jones and Kim Kardashian joining in. In a December 2015 blog post, Kardashian went through her thought process, noting anecdotes of other women who had good experiences. "So,” she wrote, “I thought, why not try it? What do I have to lose?"

As it turns out, the answer is the health of your newborn, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a new case report published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers caution against the practice, noting that the commercial and at-home preparation methods could leave your DIY organ supplements contaminated with infectious pathogens.