January Jones Loves Her Placenta Pills, But Are They Bogus? And Does That Matter?
Do these pills work? Or are they bogus? Or both?
January Jones has been singing the praises of her placenta pills. She’s the first big star to get this burgeoning birth trend out into the mainstream and the questions are pouring in. What are placenta pills? And do they really fend off postpartum depression and give you the emotional boost January Jones (and others) claim they do?
Here’s the quick rundown:
The placenta, at birth, is full of nutrient-rich blood and hormones such as the beneficial bonding/birth hormone, oxytocin. The theory is that if you consume the placenta these nutrients and hormones will help stabilize your mood postpartum and possibly, theoretically, reduce the chances of postpartum mood disorder such as depression.
One way to consume the placenta is to eat it. Another way is to have your placenta made into pills. A trained placenta encapsulator will reduce the placenta (via drying and/or cooking) into a concentrated powder which is then put in capsules and ingested daily during the postpartum period.
Though I’ve never seen solid research supporting the usefulness of the pills, anecdotes from happy mothers abound. Here’s one comment from popular blogger The Feminist Breeder‘s Facebook page today: “I had mine encapsulated after baby 3 last summer. They help combat my depression so much. I ended up using all my pills. I will say that after the reaction I got from some friends when I told them about it, I stopped telling people. If they haven’t had kids or experienced depression after they won’t understand.”
Women who’ve been through postpartum depression are particularly keen to try whatever they can to avoid a repeat occurrence with a subsequent pregnancy.
I have mixed feelings about this procedure. I’m not squeamish in the slightest. I’m very interested in the natural process of birth. I have even been labelled “crunchy” in the New York Times. But I have quibbles:
- Oxytocin– the “bonding” or “love hormone”– has many fine features, to be sure. It’s instrumental in birth and breastfeeding and bonding with the baby. But I don’t see how oxytocin survives the drying/cooking process. I’ve read that even in your bloodstream this hormone is elusive. Also, from the dabbling in pop neuropsychology I’ve done, it seems it’s never just about levels of hormones, but also about the availability of hormone receptors.
- A woman’s body makes lots of oxytocin during birth (this is the primary hormone of labor) and during breastfeeding. Do we really need to intervene to provide more? Does promoting the routine use of these pills imply that the biological process of birth doesn’t fully work? Hey, I’m open to the flaws or kinks in biology and I do think that all of us need help (in the form of more maternity leave, more sunshine, medication, therapy, better sex, affordable daycare, whatever….) But it’s interesting to note that those who promote placental encapsulation are typically a very anti-interventionist crowd. I know this is “natural” (it’s not oxycontin!) but it’s also arguably not a part of “natural” human physiological birth:
- One big reason other mammals eat their placentas is to quickly eliminate of the smell of fresh, alluring blood and thus prevent unwanted predators. Humans may have sometimes eaten the placenta way back in the day when food was very scarce (it is a nutritious organ to be sure) but generally it’s not a part of the human birth process.
- Postpartum depression and other mood disorders can be very serious and often have multiple causes. We all experience a huge hormonal shift in the first weeks postpartum and this can be more or less difficult, depending on many variables. But there are other important risk factors than just “hormones” to postpartum depression. I worry that if we become too obsessed with these miracle pills, we might start to pay less attention to risk factors such as, “marital problems, low self-esteem, and a lack of having social support before and after the birth of the child.”
Having said all of that, let’s get back to the fact that so many women love these pills!
Maybe I’m wrong? Or being too harsh?
Maybe the hormones do survive the drying process. Maybe taking placenta pills can seamlessly coexist with nuanced conversations about support for moms– this is certainly true of some of the brilliant and enlightened women in know in the birth world. Maybe a fairly benign intervention such as this will help moms feel like they’re actively seeking out ways to take care of themselves.
Maybe the placenta pills work on placebo effect alone???
And maybe that’s just fine.
I am not sure I buy the “science” behind placenta pills. But I do buy the testimony of moms, like January Jones, who feel better for taking them.
What do you think?
Photo: PacificCoastNews.com
In my opinion, (which is to be taken with a grain of salt because I’m not an expert in anything) this is a classic example of the placebo effect. The women think they are getting something to counter-act PPD and *presto* they feel great! The mind is hugely powerful. And fortunately placenta pills don’t appear to have anything else in them so I would assume it is perfectly safe for these women to continue taking them. If it makes them feel good, go for it. I won’t be joining them because, sadly, I am way too much of a skeptic.
Placebo effect doesn’t always work. Medication come with dosages for a reason, things just effect people differently, either stronger or weaker. Maybe for some it is mind over matter for that I dare those people to go up to someone who is knee deep in severe morning sickness and tell them its mind over matter. The fur will fly. Some people need the will power to over come while others need outside help which our bodies have gifted us on a platter. Eating the placenta isn’t a modern thought or mostly even accepted I say why would it be? People are okay with taking Prenatal pills and everyday vitamins/mineral pills because really why should people be bothered with trying to make sure they intake the proper amount of nutrition to begin with. Pills are widly accepted substitutes most just don’t like knowing exactly how/where those nutrient came from or out of. Least with placenta pills you know exactly where it came from, Organic to the Max.
She is trying to win the Hollywood Go Green competition. Just posted on this. It’s called, “I’m so Green I Eat my Own Placenta.” You can check it out at
http://www.themommypsychologist.com/2012/03/28/im-so-green-i-eat-my-own-placenta/
“The child psychologist who thought she had all the answers to parenting until she became one herself.”
Thanks for writing this Ceridwen. I love your points.
Here’s my take: there’s not enough data on placenta pills’ effectiveness in terms of preventing or treating postpartum depression. I wrote more about it here, with input from one of the top PPD experts: http://postpartumprogress.com/placenta-encapsulation-to-treat-ppd-yay-or-nay
If someone takes them and they feel the pills helped, that’s totally cool, and I’m glad. Really. The only thing I have a problem with is when people say there’s medical evidence that they work. There just isn’t.
My midwife tried to talk me into doing this. It seemed like a ridiculous waste of money to me, and I regarded my midwife as less credible as a result. Just because I wanted a birth with as few interventions as possible doesn’t mean I buy into every crazy fad that comes down the pike. I did come down with a serious case of PPD, but I doubt it’s because I didn’t eat my placenta.
I’m personally having my placenta encapsulated because I feel even if it is a placebo effect, at least I’ll hopefully feel better than other new moms I have known. I’ve had friends with horrible PPD and one friend who recently delivered has had a horrible time getting her milk to come in. Placenta is said to help with both of these issues as well as decreasing bleeding after birth and given mom more energy. Personally, I don’t want to take the chance of any of these issues if they can possibly be prevented from taking the pills. The pills are natural and cannot hurt you so I say why not?
You mentioned oxytocin being part of birth, but for moms who delivered via C-section, some of this natural oxytocin wouldn’t be present correct? Or at least its benefits might be masked by the other drugs one might be given? I think maybe for C-section moms placenta encapsulation could help provide some of the oxytocin they might otherwise be lacking–just a thought, I have no idea if this even makes sense.
Your opinion is useful
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