Animal History

Key Points

Many people assume humans should eat their placenta because of the misconception that all other animals do. In fact, not all animals consume their placenta
Most mammals ingest the placenta immediately after the young are born
Amniotic fluid and placenta contains compounds (POEF) that help relieve pain while in labor. POEF is deactivated shortly after delivery of the placenta, and will not be present or beneficial after this short window of time, so placenta pills or smoothies will not deliver this active compound to humans

Animals often give birth to multiple pups, while in isolation and vulnerable to predators. POEF ingestion via placenta is thought to be an evolutionary adaptation to help them cope with pain
Species that have female attended births do not ingest the placenta

Common assumption about mammals

Many people assume that since most mammals consume their placenta, that humans did and should do so today. Yet there are some key points that differentiate humans from the animal world with regards to placenta ingestion. In the animal kingdom, mammals have placentas, and there is near universal ingestion of the placenta in the immediate postpartum period of giving birth. Exceptions that do not consume the placenta include all sea mammals, members of the camelid family (camels, alpacas and llamas), and humans. Marsupials also do not ingest their placentas, as they are resorbed after giving birth. Within all species there are typically some individuals that do not follow the typical behavior of ingestion. This indicates that it is not an obligatory activity among mammals. Amniotic fluid is licked throughout labor in mammals that consume placenta. Human mothers, on the other hand, are not attracted to their placenta, nor do they lick themselves or the amniotic fluid. They are focused on their baby in the postpartum period.

Research on why animals eat their placenta

Mark B. Kristal, PhD at State University of New York at Buffalo, has spent over 40 years researching why mammals consume the placenta, and questioning whether humans do, and has found that humans do not consume their placenta after giving birth. What he has learned is that the amniotic fluid and the placenta of rat, cow, humans and dolphins contain Placenta Opioid Enhancing Factor (POEF). This serves to enhance the natural opioids produced during labor to reduce pain. It explains why animals lick the amniotic fluid in labor, and eat the placenta delivered after each birth in a multi-young delivery. It provides pain relief in both males and females, though only if endogenous opioids have been elicited from the individual, experiencing high levels of pain. The POEF is only active for about 40 minutes after delivery, so processing placenta for later usage is not effective for pain control.

Assuming that the immediate, raw ingestion of placenta by most mammals is also appropriate for human women, particularly well beyond the first hour of birth, has no scientific basis.

Click here to see the research on human historical tradition

References

Coyle, C., Hulse, K., Wisner, K., Driscoll, K., & Clark, C. (2015). Placentophagy: Therapeutic Miracle or Myth? Arch Womens Ment Health 18:673-680.

Hayes, E. (2016). Consumption of the Placenta in the Postpartum Period. JOGNN 45:78-89.

Kristal, M. (1980). Placentophagia: A Biobehavioral Enigma (or De gustibus non disputandum est). Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 4:141-150.

Kristal, M., DiPirro, J. & Thompson, A. (2012). Placentophagia in Humans and Nonhuman Mammals: Causes and Consequences, Ecology of Food and Nutrition 51: 177-197.

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