Kim Kardashian has shared her experience of eating her own placenta after the birth of Saint West.
The mum-of-two tweeted a photo of her "amazing placenta" (which was freeze-dried and in pill form) in a personalised jar. She explained on her paid-for app that she believed it could help prevent postnatal depression.
However, medical experts have countered Kardashian's claims, stating there is no scientific evidence to prove these pills can prevent postnatal depression.
Kardashian wrote: "I really didn’t want the baby blues and thought I can’t go wrong with taking a pill made of my own hormones - made by me, for me."
Kardashian continued: "I'm really not this holistic person or someone who would have ever considered eating my placenta.
"When I say 'eat my placenta' I mean that I’m having it freeze-dried and made into a pill form - not actually fry it like a steak and eat it (which some people do, BTW).
"I heard so many stories when I was pregnant with North of mums who never ate their placenta with their first baby and then had postpartum depression, but then when they took the pills with their second baby, they did not suffer from it.
"So I thought why not try it? What do I have to lose?"
She continued: "I had great results and felt so energised and didn’t have any signs of depression.
"I definitely had to do it again. Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good."
Kardashian is following in the footsteps of her sister Kourtney, who took placenta pills after the birth of her third child.
Uploading a photo to Instagram at the beginning of this year, Kourtney wrote: "Yummy... PLACENTA pills. No joke... I will be sad when my placenta pills run out. They are life changing."
On the Independent Placenta Encapsulation Network it states: "Placenta Capsules are made from your placenta with no added ingredients.
"The placenta is dehydrated using a food dehydrator or oven for 8-10 hours until crisp. The dried placenta is ground into a powder and put into empty vegetable capsules."
However, Louise Silverton, director for midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives cautions that medical evidence does not back up claims that eating a placenta can boost a mother's health.
She said a recent Northwestern Medicine review of 10 current published research studies on placentophagy did not turn up any human or animal data to support the common claims that eating the placenta - either raw, cooked or encapsulated - offers protection against postpartum depression.
Nor did it find evidence to support claims eating the placenta reduces post-delivery pain, boosts energy, helps with lactation, promotes skin elasticity, enhances maternal bonding or replenishes iron in the body.
She told HuffPost UK Parents: "There is little or no evidence around women eating their placenta. Indeed, there may be potential dangers in doing so, though again there is no evidence to support that either.
"As a result midwives will not advise women about eating their placenta because of this lack of evidence, and it must be the woman’s choice if she chooses to do so.
"Women should be aware that like any foodstuff, placentas can go off, so care will be needed about how they are stored."
Dr Helen Webberley, dedicated GP for www.oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk also cautions against taking placenta pills.
She told HuffPost UK Parents: "We should never consider eating anything that could contain human genetic material, whether it's our own or that of somebody else.
"If medication is the preferred route then this should only be taken if prescribed by a General Medical Council registered doctor, in the case of prescription only medication, or suggested by a registered pharmacist, for medicine that does not require a prescription.
"Postnatal depression can be debilitating and the first step for anyone who feels they may be suffering is to seek help. Midwives and health visitors are trained and can always advise you if you feel you may need additional support. Don't be afraid to ask."
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