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Placenta pills stir up medical controversy
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TAKING dried human placenta in the form of a capsule is one of the more controversial health trends sweeping China. While some practitioners swear by the benefits, others are less than convinced and consider it disgusting.
Qiang Jing, 30, had her placenta encapsulated with the help of her housekeeper near the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital at her husband’s request.
“My mother-in-law suggested it after my son was born,” says Qiang, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym. “My husband was taking one capsule a day, but gave up a month later because he thought it was gross every time he remembered what was in it.”
Two of her friends also had placenta capsules made after giving birth, she said. One friend took the capsules herself while the other gave the pills to her grandmother.
The placenta is an organ that provides the fetus with oxygen and nutrients through the umbilical cord and removes waste during pregnancy. The dried placenta, in Chinese known as ziheche, is usually about 22 centimeters long and has been used to increase blood health and vitality in traditional Chinese medicine.
Hundreds of advertisements touting human placenta processing services were posted around the gates of a maternity hospital in Harbin, capital city of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.
Correspondents with Xinhua news agency tracked the address of several and found more than 20 placenta-processing workshops with poor sanitary conditions. Many were crudely assembled in low-rent apartments near the hospital.
In the crowded kitchen of one workshop, buyers covered their nose and mouth as they waited. A bloody trash can filled with medical waste was underneath the table in the middle of the room.
Carrying a refrigerated plastic bag, a salesman appeared and greeted a customer.
“You’re lucky,” he said. “We obtained it yesterday.”
One placenta can be made into more than 100 capsules, he added. Most customers use their own and pay around 150 yuan (US$24) for processing. The fees are doubled if the workshop has to provide the placenta, which is “collected” from local hospitals.
Xia Hongwei, a doctor with the Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, says fewer mothers are giving up their placenta after delivering a child.
Most people opt for encapsulation, in which the placenta is steamed, dehydrated and ground into powder to make it easier to swallow.
“They have realized that placentas are good. Even pharmaceutical companies extract hormones and proteins from placentas for medical use,” Xia says.
Li Mei, who recently gave birth, believes the capsules are a natural remedy and worth trying.
“I ate placenta capsules and felt much better after giving birth to my son,” she says.
Supporters say it helps new mothers increase milk supply and fight off postpartum depression. For the old and the sick, it helps regain energy.
However, controversy surrounds the beneficial effects, safety and ethics of the act.
Cai Yan, head of the obstetrics department at the Fourth Hospital affiliated to Harbin Medical University, says she has no problem with patients who want to take placenta capsules, though she warned no clinical trials or scientific research has been done to back claims of their effectiveness.
Meanwhile, the process involved in the production of capsules presents potential health risks.
“If the mother carries viruses like hepatitis B or HIV, they may be left over in placentas,” Cai says.
Opponents also argue it’s unethical.
Qin Xue, a pregnant woman, says she would not eat her own placenta even if it has nutritional value.
“I think it is a part of you and your baby,” she says.
She still worries her placenta could be used in other ways after friends told her their doctors did not offer them the option to keep it after birth.
According to China’s health authorities, hospitals should give placentas to new mothers after they give birth. If the new moms give up or donate their placentas, medical institutions can process the handling. No outside organizations or individuals are allowed to buy or sell placentas.
The trend is not limited to China, with news reports examining the growing popularity of using human placentas in other parts of the world.
The Guardian recently published a story about a woman from Wiltshire, England, who makes smoothies by blending berries, bananas and human placenta. The report prompted an investigation by public health officials over health and safety concerns.
Independent Placenta Encapsulation Network (IPEN), which is dedicated to transforming views of the practice, said it has helped more than 4,000 mothers consume their placenta in the UK alone.
Yin Yan, a doctor with the First Hospital affiliated to Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, says not everyone is suitable for taking human placenta. Yin said it depends on the user’s physical state.
“Perhaps clinical trials can prove the physical and mental benefits in the future,” she says. “But until then, the medical and ethical debates will continue.”
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