Question of the day...

QOD: Have you heard of eating the placenta after birth?

Yuck! One of my very best friends (she's like my sister) is pregnant. Due in November, she is pursuing the standard and normal 'baby and birthing classes' offered in her local community. Her mom is a Doula, so she is familiar with the crunchy granola sentiments of natural childbirth and home births - so she is by means uninformed about alternative lifestyle choices. But last night she asked me if I'd ever heard of eating the placent after birth?

In one tabolid report this past April, you might recall that Tom Cruise said: "I'm gonna eat the placenta." (full story) Now coming from Tom, that might not seem so strange, but I thought that the mere introduction into more mainstream society (read: my life) was an odd reflection of just how wacky and way out people are.

For more on Placentophagy, I visited Wikipedia (don't you just love this resource!). I learned it's common for mammals, such as goats and rats, to eat the placenta because it stimulates contraction of the uterus and also milk production for the newborn(s). That sounds like mother nature at work - but truthfully, as much as she is a meat-only kind of gal, I just can't see her and her hubby stokin' up the charcoal barby for a finely grilled placenta. Yuck!