6 days ago
I forced my reluctant husband to take my placenta home and blend it into a smoothie - I was out of hospital the next day
When I saw DJ Calvin Harris ' picture of his partner and Radio 1 host Vick Hope 's placenta pills on Instagram it brought back so many memories.
I was 32 and pregnant with my first baby when I heard about the concept of consuming your placenta after the birth.
I was taking birth classes with a midwife who was very into the natural birth movement, and she told me about a theory that eating the placenta could prevent post-partum depression, ease bleeding after delivery and improve your iron levels.
Although there is no scientific evidence that eating the placenta after childbirth is beneficial, many animals including cattle, goats, horses and dogs, do it as it's supposedly an amazing source of nutrition.
I was intrigued by the idea and figured that anything that might make me feel better or make the early days of life with a newborn easier was worth a try.
I already knew the placenta - a temporary body organ that develops during pregnancy - had lots of beneficial ingredients in it as I once got talked into buying a £400 moisturiser which contained sheep's placenta.
The midwife leading my birth classes introduced me to a woman who lived nearby who was a doula and birth coach, and she also offered a placenta encapsulation service.
For £150 she would take my placenta, dehydrate it and turn it into little vitamin-like pills and a tincture which I could add to water. I'd also heard of people taking their fresh placenta and putting it into smoothies to drink after the birth.
Although I'd planned a natural home birth, my waters broke and there was meconium in them, and when I went to the hospital they told me I'd have to stay there and be induced.
While we were waiting for the induction, my partner Andy and I went for a walk and I suddenly remembered my plans for my placenta. We popped into a Pound Shop and bought a cool bag to take the placenta home with us.
The birth was chaotic and not at all how I'd imagined, but I remember Andy pointing to my placenta and saying to the doctor: 'We need to take that'. When he got home, he stuffed it in the fridge.
The days after my birth were really hard and I felt terrible, so while I was still recovering on the ward, I asked Andy to go home and rip off a bit of my placenta and put it into a smoothie for me.
I'd read that it was full of stem cells which can help a woman's body to replenish itself after birth.
Andy was sceptical, but I felt so rotten I forced him to do it: 'You have to do it for me and the baby'. He later told me that he got the placenta out of a tupperware in the fridge and tried to cut it with a knife but it was too thick, so he just ripped some off with his hands.
He put it in the Nutribullet with a load of frozen berries. I drank it in the hospital. It didn't really taste that different from a normal smoothie.
I don't know if it was just a placebo effect or if it really helped, but not long afterwards, I stopped bleeding and was allowed to go home the next day.
The early days of having my daughter Wren were a blur, but I did take the placenta pills - religiously at first and then less as time went on.
I remember there were some moments where I had a bit of a wobble about whether to take them or not, as I'd had drugs to induce labour and did wonder if they'd gone into the placenta.
I also had a lot of problems with breastfeeding and there are mixed reports about whether consuming the placenta increases or decreases your milk supply.
My family weren't that surprised when they heard I was taking pills made of my placenta - they already think I'm quite hippy and woo woo.
But I remember my mother-in-law was shocked and a bit mortified when we told her.
I think in other cultures it's a normal practice and people have been doing it for decades.
My French friend Alexia told me that her mother made granules of her placenta nearly 40 years ago. Alexia's mother gave them to her when she was a child and told her if she ever felt unwell, she could take them to get better.
When I had my daughter Alba two years later, in 2018, I would have done it again, but she was born at 36 weeks so we weren't organised enough.
She was born in the bath at home and I do remember looking at my placenta and marvelling at what my body had created. You've grown a baby and a whole new organ. I can see why in many cultures the placenta is treated as a sacred thing.
The other day I was having a clear out and I found the little brown bottle of tincture which we'd had made all those years ago.
It's supposed to be great for rebalancing hormones, so I've just started taking it again to help with perimenopausal symptoms.
I have 10 drops in a glass of water every morning. It's too soon to really feel an effect, but it feels positive to try something.
I hope it works for Vick and helps her recover from the birth. There's nothing to be squeamish about. I think anything that makes people feel good is worth the effort.
