On Eating Your Placenta

foetusplacentawax.jpg

As you may know, some people advocate for eating one’s placenta after the birth of a child. The placenta can–according to proponents of the practice–be steamed, stir-fried, blended in a smoothie, or dried and encapsulated in pills. A whole host of benefits have been claimed, as has an ancient and global precedent. In this episode, we look for historical evidence of human “placentophagy” and ask scientific and medical experts Dr Bryony McNeill, Dr Laurence Totelin and Dr Jen Gunter to weigh in on the trend.

Image: Foetus in placenta in utero. Science Museum Group Collection

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The Myth of the Victorian Vibrator