New research suggests that eating placenta after childbirth has no proven health benefits, BBC News reported.
Researchers at Northwestern University found no human or animal data to support claims that eating the placenta -- either raw, cooked or encapsulated -- offers protection against postpartum depression, reduces post-delivery pain, boosts energy, helps with lactation, promotes skin elasticity, enhances maternal bonding or replenishes iron in the body.
"There are a lot of subjective reports from women who perceived benefits, but there hasn't been any systematic research investigating the benefits or the risk of placenta ingestion," Dr. Crystal Clark, corresponding author of the study, said in a statement. "The studies on mice aren't translatable into human benefits."
For the study, researchers reviewed 10 recently published studies on the subject, "covering both the attitudes and motivations for eating the placenta and the consumption of animal and human placenta by nonhuman mammals," CBS News reported. They found no studies examining the risk of ingesting the placenta, which acts as a filter to absorb and protect the developing fetus from toxins and pollutants, scientists said.
Researchers said eating placenta after childbirth may pose an unknown risk for the women and infants, if they are breastfeeding.
"Bacteria and elements such as mercury and lead have been identified in the post-term placenta," Clark told CBS News. "So if the theory is that we retain nutrients and hormones such as estrogen and iron that could be beneficial, then the question becomes what harmful substances can also be retained that could harm the mother or the baby if she is breastfeeding."
Researchers are currently gathering data on the perceptions, beliefs and placental practices of health care providers internationally and nationally, as well as patients locally, and whether providers are recommending placentophagy to patients.
The findings are detailed in the journal Archives of Women's Mental Health.
