Do people actually eat afterbirth?

Question

I just saw " Knocked up" and after this woman gave birth, this gel c**p shot out of her, called afterbirth i think. One of the guys said people actually eat that. Is that true? i know people eat like roaches and other disgusting stuff but this afterbirth thing looks repulsive. Do the doctors just like slurp it up after they deliver the baby or do they have to prepare it somehow?

Answer 1

wiccian do not eat the placenta or afterbirth.

humans don't even do that, but other mamals do.

Answer 2

Yeah some people actually do! It's supposed to be really healthy for you and help replenish vitamins and minerals lost during childbirth

Answer 3

Absolutely, although not very common. My wife & I watched a documentary a few years back that showed a woman, with her husband & some friends, cooking it then eating it. Made my wife throw up and made me more than a little queasy. I'll stick to Sloppy Joes.

The article below has some interesting stuff about what people do with the placenta other than eating it.

Answer 4

I think Wiccans eat placenta.

Answer 5

I think it's mostly indigenous cultures or odd-ball naturalists that still do this. It has lots of vitamins and minerals and stuff but it's still gross. I don't think they do anything to it, they just eat it raw, after washing it off of course.

Answer 6

Chop it up. Fry it in butter with some garlic. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve on a bed of rice with a nice red wine.

Seriously, yeah some people do eat it. It's loaded with stem cells, vitamins and minerals. I don't know any women that would eat it, it sounds nasty to me.

Answer 7

In some cultures they do.  I certainly wouldn't though.

Not sure where the first answer got her information about Wiccans eating placenta from.

Answer 8

st33lcas...  has given a good answer....

It is something that has occured in some cultures...  and while it isn't something I would do myself.... Consider a people that have diets low on nutrients..and consider the depletion from a woman's body that pregnancy causes...

PERHAPS this evolved as a means to replenish some of what was taken from the body ?

still Yuck though in my mind...

Answer 9

good grief Knocked Up was all too graphic! you don't expect a shot of the baby actually coming out....brrrr

and yeah some people cook their own placentas. something about it being so nutritious since its initial purpose is passing nutrition to the fetus in the first place.

but...other "gel c**p" im not so sure...