There has been a trend in recent years for celebrity mothers to eat their placenta after giving birth. But what else can be done with it?
An increasing number of Irish mothers have donating their placentas to the Civil Defence's Human Remains Detection Dogs, as small amounts of blood and tissue are needed in the training of the dogs.
We were joined by Pauline Gannon, who is a placenta encapsulator. She spoke to us about some of the uses for the placenta, including consuming it in the form of pills, having it made into jewellery - and even turning it into a teddy bear...
Several of our listeners got in touch to share their own experiences in this area. Here are some of them:
- 'My placenta was used for training the cadaver dogs in the Civil Defence K-9 unit. I got to meet the dog and everything. It's buried somewhere in the Phoenix Park (very deeply) and they'll bring the dog by it a few times over the next few years to see if he can pick up the scent even after it is fully decomposed.'
- 'Met a guy in a carpark to deliver my wife's placenta after our first daughter was born, strangest thing I've ever done!'
- 'My husband cut my placenta up in to small pieces after the birth of my daughter and I ate it in a smoothie every day until it was all gone.'
