Women’s knowledge of placentophagy: scoping review

Fialho, Vitória Araújo; dos Santos, Gustavo Gonçalves; de Aguiar, Cláudia Azevedo; de Mattos, Diego Vieira

doi:10.1590/1806-9304202500000231-en

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REVIEW • Rev. Bras. Saude Mater. Infant. 25 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9304202500000231-en linkcopy

Women’s knowledge of placentophagy: scoping review

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Abstract

Objectives: mapping the evidence on women’s knowledge of placentophagy.

Methods: this scoping review was conducted following the methodological guide of the Joanna Briggs Institute. Qualitative, quantitative and clinical studies published in English, Spanish or Portuguese were included, with no time restrictions. The search was conducted in the EMBASE, PUBMED/MEDLINE and Scopus databases on June 28, 2024, using a comprehensive search strategy with controlled and non-controlled descriptors.

Results: seven studies were included in the review, which evaluated everything from the practice of placentophagy to popular opinion on the subject. Among the main findings of this study, it stands out that the motivations for placentophagy among modern women are the belief in its health benefits. However, there is no scientific evidence assuring the impacts on people’s health.

Conclusion: the review revealed that the scientific evidence on the benefits of placentophagy is limited and controversial, and that there is an urgent need for more well- controlled research to assess the real effects of this practice on maternal health.

Key words
Health knowledge; Attitudes and practice; Women’s health; Placenta; Placentation; Evidence gaps

Authors	Title	Year of publication and origin country	Objectives	Type of study	Main results
Botelle R, Willott C¹⁴	Birth, attitudes and placentophagy: a thematic discourse analysis of discussions on UK parenting forums	2020 United Kingdom	How users of parents’ forums from the United Kingdom discuss placentophagy	Qualitative study	Three main themes were identified: women reported predominantly positive attitudes in relation to their own experiences with placentophagy, and they were respectful towards the views and experience of others; some had negative perspectives, particularly related to the concept of disgust, but, again, they were respectful towards the other’s experiences. Roughly speaking, the most common method of placenta consumption was by means of capsules.
Benyshek DC et al.,¹⁵	Placentophagy among women planning community births in the United States: Frequency, rationale, and associated neonatal outcomes	2018 United States	To characterize the practice of placentophagy and its neonatal concomitant results within a large sample of women in the United States	Qualitative study	Almost one third (30.8%) of women consumed their placenta. Most mothers (85.3%) consumed placenta capsules, and almost half (48.4%) consumed capsules containing dehydrated and raw placenta. Women that had home births were more prone to placentophagy than women that gave birth in birth centers
Young SM et al.,16	Effects of placentophagy on maternal salivary hormones: A pilot trial, part 1	2018 United States	To investigate women that ingested their own placenta in capsules during postpartum	Pilot study	Some hormones in the placenta capsules lead to small but significant differences in the hormone profiles of women who ingested placenta capsules compared to those who ingested placebo
Young SM et al.,17	Placentophagy’s effects on mood, bonding, and fatigue: A pilot trial, part 2	2018 United States	To investigate women who ingested their own placenta in capsules during postpartum	Randomized double-blind and controlled clinical trial	No robust differences were detected in postpartum maternal humor, maternal bond or fatigue between placenta and placebo groups. This finding may be especially important for women that consider placentophagy as a “natural” manner (that is, non-pharmacological) of preventing or treating sadness/depression
Schuette SA et al.,¹⁸	Perspectives from Patients and Healthcare Providers on the Practice of Maternal Placentophagy	2017 United States	To assess familiarity and the attitudes towards placentophagy and the disposition of patients in trying placentophagy	Quantitative study	Approximately two thirds of patients were familiar with placentophagy. Patients with self-reported history of mental disorders were more prone to consider placentophagy and believe that health providers should discuss with their patients
Selander J et al.,¹⁹	Human maternal placentophagy: a survey of self-reported motivations and experiences associated with placenta consumption	2013 United States	To describe motivations and experience of women with placenta consumption	Quantitative study	Most of these women reported positive benefits and indicated that they would try placentophagy again in future births. More surveys are necessary in order to confirm described benefits.
Young SM, Benyshek DC²⁰	In search of human placentophagy: a cross-cultural survey of human placenta consumption, disposal practices, and cultural beliefs	2010 United States	To describe about placenta consumption and cultural beliefs	Quantitative study	The noticeable absence of cultural traditions associated with maternal placentophagy in the ethnographic transcultural registry brings interesting questions related to its omnipresent occurrence between almost all of the other mammals and the reasons for its absence

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[TN1] Source: adapted from PRISMA; 2024.