placentophagy

However, scientific study has found very limited and inconclusive evidence for any health benefits of placentophagy.

The risks of human placentophagy are also still unclear.

In some cultures, the placenta is eaten, a practice known as placentophagy.

As well, the authors stated that the risks of placentophagy also warrant more investigation.

Modern practice of placentophagy is rare, as most contemporary human cultures do not promote its consumption.

Despite a general cultural avoidance, however, instances of placentophagy have been recorded among certain modern cultures.

There have been no scientific studies which show that placentophagy enhances analgesia in humans.

This same study also recorded three references of non-maternal placentophagy:

Many researchers remain skeptical of whether the practice of placentophagy is of value to humans.

Placentophagy may be a form of self-cannibalism.

Human placentophagy after childbirth is touted by some as a treatment for postpartum depression and fatigue, among other health benefits.

This is known as placentophagy.

This instance, however, may not be indicative of any larger cultural trends, as no other records of placentophagy were found in the Chicano culture.

This practice is termed placentophagy.

Non-maternal placentophagy is defined as, "the ingestion of the placenta by any person other than the mother, at any time."

Practice of paternal placentophagy was identified in the Malekula of Melanesia.

Maternal placentophagy most frequently occurs among placental mammals, although it is becoming more common amongst humans in Western cultures.

Ober also identified many cultures known to have practiced placentophagy for medicinal purposes, and one for its flavor.

Those who advocate placentophagy in humans believe that eating the placenta prevents postpartum depression and other pregnancy complications.

Maternal placentophagy is defined as, "a mother's ingestion of her own placenta postpartum, in any form, at any time."

Such instances of placentophagy have been attributed to the following: a shift toward carnivorousness at parturition, specific hunger, and general hunger.

Although human placentophagy entails the consumption of human tissue by a human or humans, its status as cannibalism is debated.

There is a risk of spreading blood-borne illness, only present in cases of non-maternal placentophagy, where the mother's blood is shared with another human.

There is also a school of thought that holds that placentophagy naturally occurred to hide any trace of childbirth from predators in the wild.

The practice of human placentophagy has become a more recent trend in western cultures and is not without controversy; its practice being considered cannibalism is debated.