What are the Risks of Placenta Encapsulation?

Now that we know some of the possible benefits of placenta encapsulation, let’s talk about the potential risks of placenta encapsulation. The most common side effects that were reported from taking encapsulated placenta pills were an unpleasant taste or smell (7%) and headache (4%). Those affected by these side effects are still very low in number, As for the risks of taking encapsulated placenta pills, I have outlined 5 potential risks below including potential exposure to toxic trace elements and pathogenic bacteria and viral infections, and more.

1. Toxic Trace Elements

Some toxic substances in a mother’s body are filtered by the placenta in order to protect the baby. The Placenta is an incredible organ that acts like a heart, lungs, and kidney. That kidney-like function means the placenta does its best to keep harmful substances from the baby. For example, parents who use cigarettes will have a much higher concentration of the heavy metal cadmium (Falcón et al.). Both cadmium and lead in placenta were found to be negatively correlated with birth weight, head circumference and placental weight which are some of the known risks of using cigarettes while pregnant (Adriaanse et al).   Heavy metals like cadmium can be found on the maternal side of the placenta after birth from where the placenta is working to filter the toxic metals from baby. This means, if a smoking mother was to encapsulate her placenta, she may also ingest the heavy metals that her body filtered away from baby and re-expose her and baby (if breastfeeding) to the toxic trace elements again. The risks of placenta encapsulation for those who use tobacco could be exposure to heavy metals present from the toxins in the tobacco. Those who smoke may not want to encapsulate their placenta because of this risk.  In non-smoking parents, there are small amounts of concentrated placental cadmium on the maternal side of the placenta from the environment in which they live. Yet, the concentration is most often under the tolerable level for cadmium, unless the parents are living in an environment with heavy pollution. Families who live in polluted areas show increased levels of heavy metals. Researchers found that women in these heavy polluted areas have  placentas that contain trace heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and mercury ((Esteban-Vasallo et al.). The risks of placenta encapsulation in a heavy polluted area would be possible exposure to heavy metals in the encapsulated placenta could be higher than the benefit of them.

2. Potential Pathogenic Bacteria & Viral Infections

If a mother was to develop an infection such as an intrauterine infection, she could potentially expose herself to the pathogen that caused the infection if she ingested her placenta. This would be a similar situation with a mother who is HIV or hepatitis positive. The virus could also potentially be spread to others handling the placenta, such as a placenta preparer. If there was an infection present during labor and birth, the risks of placenta encapsulation would be ingesting the placenta and possibly becoming reexposed to a pathogen by ingesting the placenta, even after encapsulation.

3. Potential of Accumulation of Drugs

If a mother experienced a heavily medicated birth journey, it is possible that the drugs that were used on her body could be present in her placenta after birth. This means that she could possibly be exposed to these drugs again after ingesting her placenta.

4. Unsafe Handling

Just like with any other food or product that is consumed by a person, placental tissue can also become contaminated by unsafe handling. This is why it is important to use a placenta arts specialist who is certified and knowledgeable about how to properly and safely prepare a placenta for encapsulation.

5. Reduction in Progesterone

Our final risk to discuss is that taking placenta pills could possibly reduce a breastfeeding parent’s milk supply. This is because estrogen present in the placenta is known to antagonize prolactin via suppression in the hypothalamus. For this reason, some women’s health care providers counsel against the use of estrogen-containing contraceptive methods during lactation because it may decrease milk production(Hatcher et al., 2011).  Most midwives and IBCLCs that I have spoken to about the potential risk to the breastmilk supply have counseled that if there is an issue with supply, a parent could reduce or stop taking their pills to see if it helps alleviate the issue. That being said, the practice of placentophagy among so many mammals in our world suggests that lactation being affected by placentophagy is probably unlikely.