Consumption of Maternal Placenta in Humans and Nonhuman Mammals: Beneficial and Adverse Effects
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Neurophysiology, Behavior and Animal Welfare Assessment, DPAA, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), 04960 Mexico City, Mexico
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Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, 62209 Morelos, Mexico
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Animal Science Institute, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, 5110566 Valdivia, Chile
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Division of Neonatology, National Institute of Health Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, 06720 Mexico City, Mexico
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Scuola di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
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Livestock Science Department, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Cuautitlán, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), 54714 Mexico City, Mexico
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Graduate and Research Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Ciudad Victoria, 87000 Tamaulipas, Mexico
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2020, 10(12), 2398; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10122398
Received: 12 November 2020
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Revised: 8 December 2020
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Accepted: 9 December 2020
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Published: 15 December 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Animal Reproduction)
Simple Summary
Placentophagia is the ingestion of the placenta and afterbirth components released during and after parturition. The maternal behavior is widespread in mammalians and takes place in nonhuman primates too. It can occur between related and unrelated female primates and female and male weanling siblings in rats and hamsters. There are reports of human placentophagia in North America where women consume their placenta, whether raw, cooked, dehydrated, processed, or encapsulated, assuming potential health benefits for mothers and their offspring. However, there are also possible detrimental health risks associated with placental consumption in women. There is no scientific research regarding the beneficial effects of human placentophagia, and available information is mostly hearsay. We discuss the cause-effect of placentophagy and the endocrine, nutritional, and analgesic proposed benefits and adverse effects of this practice that have been published in humans and nonhuman mammals.
Placentophagia is a common mammalian behavior, and the first scientific study of the potential effects of human maternal placentophagia on lactation was in 1917. More recently, in the 1970s, human placentophagia was reported in North America with a trend toward increased consumption. There are different hypotheses about the women and nonhuman mammals’ motivation towards placentophagia, but few have been subject to hypotheses testing. In women, the controversy continues; on the one hand, researchers attribute benefits like increased breast milk, weight gain in newborns, decreased postpartum depression and fatigue, and improved mothers’ mood. In contrast, bacterial or viral infections, hormonal, or trace elements that could become toxic for both the mother and baby are reported as possible health risks. Other reports argue a lack of scientific rigor to support the self-reported benefits of placentophagia. Also, the way the placenta is prepared (raw, cooked, dehydrated, processed, or encapsulated) alters its components, and thus the desired effects. This review provides relevant information and the different hypotheses and points of view around placentophagia. However, there are still questions to be resolved, and more studies are needed to confirm or reject the data generated so far about placentophagia in humans and nonhuman mammals.
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Keywords:
placenta; amniotic fluid; placentophagia; POEF; mammals; parturition
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MDPI and ACS Style
Mota-Rojas, D.; Orihuela, A.; Strappini, A.; Villanueva-García, D.; Napolitano, F.; Mora-Medina, P.; Barrios-García, H.B.; Herrera, Y.; Lavalle, E.; Martínez-Burnes, J. Consumption of Maternal Placenta in Humans and Nonhuman Mammals: Beneficial and Adverse Effects. Animals 2020, 10, 2398. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10122398
AMA Style
Mota-Rojas D, Orihuela A, Strappini A, Villanueva-García D, Napolitano F, Mora-Medina P, Barrios-García HB, Herrera Y, Lavalle E, Martínez-Burnes J. Consumption of Maternal Placenta in Humans and Nonhuman Mammals: Beneficial and Adverse Effects. Animals. 2020; 10(12):2398. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10122398
Chicago/Turabian StyleMota-Rojas, Daniel, Agustín Orihuela, Ana Strappini, Dina Villanueva-García, Fabio Napolitano, Patricia Mora-Medina, Hugo B. Barrios-García, Yuridia Herrera, Eunice Lavalle, and Julio Martínez-Burnes. 2020. "Consumption of Maternal Placenta in Humans and Nonhuman Mammals: Beneficial and Adverse Effects" Animals 10, no. 12: 2398. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10122398
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