Eating the Afterbirth – a Chinese Herbal Medicine Tradition
I’m never quite sure what will inspire me to write a blog but seeing this video today did the trick. This blog is about the human placenta and why women are now calling “a placenta cooking lady” to prepare their placenta’s into pills to ingest after childbirth. The placenta is attached to the fetus via the umbilical cord. Once the baby is born the placenta and cord are considered medical waste (so we’re told) at the hospital. We’ve known for some time the umbilical cord is a source of stem cell research and many wealthy parents now have the cord frozen and stored, just in case it’s needed in the future. Now, it’s becoming more widely known that that placenta has tremendous value as well. Chinese Medicine has understood the value of the human placenta for generations. Ingesting dried placenta in pill form can help a new mother recuperate from childbirth and reclaim some lost blood and nutrients.
You can have your placenta cooked, dried and placed into pills to supplement your child birth recovery. Those that have used placenta pills after birth swear they have a shorter recovery from postpartum hemorrhaging, more energy from replenished nutrients, increased milk production and no post-partum depression. In fact, a good friend of mine recently gave birth and she has just finished taking her placenta pills. This was the first time she had placenta prepared into pills and she reported feeling great and said it was a little like a caffeine type energy boost without the caffeine and she had an extremely easy recovery overall. This was her sixth child.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, placenta is considered a powerful and sacred yang tonic. The placenta is cooked with a few herbs and wine. Wine in Chinese medicine has a dispersing action and therefore helps to distribute the placentas nutrients throughout the women’s body. The placenta is full of natural oxytocins which are responsible for contracting the uterus, it also contains hormones which is believed to be the reason it helps with postpartum depression. Historically Chinese Medicine has used human placenta for those who have low energy. Interestingly, it is the only meat that comes from life, not death and other mammals do eat their placentas. Maybe the animal kingdom has something to teach us.
Check out this link at Time Magazine, there is a short video showing the placenta being prepared, in case you’ve never seen one.
Video: placenta it’s whats for dinner
Category: Chinese Medicine | Tags: Alternative Medicine, Chinese Herbs, Chinese Medicine, health, placenta herbs 7 comments »
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:40 AM
i have been suffering from sinusitis for so many years and i can only relieve the stuffiness of the nose by means of decongestants..;;
May 5th, 2010 at 10:07 PM
there are also some alternative medicines that you can try for sinusitis. i have tried some herbal stuffs and it is good for relieving sinusitis too. ~
May 18th, 2010 at 6:33 PM
If you stay healthy going into menopause you will not experience uncomfortable symptoms and you won’t need artificial hormones. Chinese herbs have been used for generations for menopause symptoms and to prevent hot flashes, night sweats and other symptoms of menopause. I prefer Chinese herbs over hormones because they work gently to bring the body back into a balanced state. If you are considering hormone replacement make sure to get bio-identical hormones and see a doctor who regularly checks your hormone levels.
May 19th, 2010 at 5:58 PM
Herbs are really useful in getting nutrients naturally, some of them have medicinal properties too.-*.
June 21st, 2010 at 2:52 PM
[...] for two reasons. First, the practice of eating the afterbirth is quite ancient. Cathy Margolin writes, “According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, placenta is considered a powerful and sacred [...]
June 28th, 2010 at 11:17 AM
Chinese herbs do work because it is time tested.”*
July 12th, 2010 at 7:14 PM
chinese herbs are very helpful on my allergic rhinits:,~