Eating your placenta may not be as good as you think - for you or your baby. 

Each time I see a post circulating about placenta encapsulation my mind boggles. It's growing in popularity over the years with celebrities such as Kim and Kourtney Kardashian advertising them but here in Ireland, it is a completely unregulated industry.

In fact, those promoting Human placentophagy claim they have more increased energy levels after consuming the pills but unfortunately there is no science to support these stories. 

Other anecdotal benefits claim to include increased iron, a boost in milk supply, better skin, a reduction in hair loss post-pregnancy, helps with postnatal depression, aids recovery from a caesarian section and some even say their mood is much better.  

But here's the thing, in 2017 the Centre for Disease Control released a report showing placenta pills may pose a real threat to newborn babies.  

Shortly after birth, a newborn became very ill with group B Streptococcus agalactiae from contaminated pills made by a popular placenta encapsulation company.  

It was reported that the placenta pills may not have been properly sterilized which led to the infection being passed from mother to baby through her breast milk.  

This is just one small example of why you should skip on eating your placenta, instead, why not do something useful with your placenta and donate it. 

Did you know you can now donate your placenta to the Irish Search Dogsto help train search and rescue dogs? The placenta is an organ that forms on the wall of the uterus during pregnancy and once expelled it closely replicates human tissue decomposition allowing it to be used to search for bodies in various stages of decay.  

Small amounts of blood and tissue from donated placenta are crucial in the training of the sniffer dogs that track down missing people both living and deceased making it an extremely useful tool for cadaver dogs.  

So why not consider helping the Irish Search Dogs by donating your placenta and aid the outstanding work of our search and rescue dogs. And it's really easy to get involved. Simply freeze your placenta after delivery and when you're feeling up to it get in touch with Irish Search Dogs.  

For more information on donating your placenta email [email protected] with your details who will also organise delivery or pick-up if needed.