What You Need to Know About Placenta Encapsulation Safety

Your placenta is an incredible organ that nourished your baby during her time in utero. So instead of wasting those valuable nutrients by throwing the placenta away after she’s born, does it make more sense to put them back into your body?

That’s the thinking behind placenta encapsulation — which involves turning the placenta into pills and consuming them postpartum.

Fans of the practice say that taking placenta pills can boost your energy and mood postpartum and even help increase your milk supply.

But placenta encapsulation isn't backed by much science, and it has some serious risks. Here’s what you should know if you’re thinking about giving it a try.

What is placenta encapsulation?

Placenta encapsulation is a process where a whole placenta is transformed into pills that can be taken postpartum.

It’s one of a few different ways to eat the placenta, but it’s by far the most popular. In fact, 70 to 80% of moms who eat their placentas opt for encapsulation, research shows.

However, in recent years, the practice has fallen out of favor and become less popular.

“Placenta encapsulation has really fallen by the wayside in the last five years,” says Jennifer Wu, M.D., an OB/GYN in New York City and a member of the What to Expect Medical Review Board. “With the lack of proven benefits, many patients have decided it is simply not worth the cost.“

Is placenta encapsulation safe?

It might not seem like there are any real downsides to placenta encapsulation at first. But taking placenta pills can pose some significant health risks, in part because there aren’t any standards in place for the encapsulation process.

Improperly encapsulated placentas can harbor dangerous bacteria that have the potential to make you and your baby sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If you’re breastfeeding, an infection you catch could be passed on to your baby. That's largely because there's no standardized protocols for the encapsulation process.

"Quality control, sterility, and protection from infection or spoiling all depend on the measures taken from the time the placenta delivers until it is encapsulated and then consumed," says Rebecca Amaru, M.D., an OB/GYN in New York City and a member of the What to Expect Medical Review Board. "There is real potential for contamination, in my opinion, and that risk, in the absence of compelling evidence of benefit, is why I don’t recommend placenta encapsulation or eating the placenta."

Placenta consumption can also expose you to environmental toxins like heavy metals that accumulate in the placenta during pregnancy, even when the pills are prepared safely.

Is placenta encapsulation the same thing as eating the placenta?

Placenta encapsulation is one way to eat the placenta. It is also sometimes consumed raw, cooked, roasted, dehydrated, or even distilled into a tincture.

There's no evidence that one method of eating the placenta is any more beneficial than the others.

How is placenta encapsulation done?

In the placenta encapsulation process, the placenta is steamed, dehydrated, ground into a powder, and sealed in vitamin-size capsules.

There are companies that will do it for you, and if you work with a doula, she might offer the service as well. Some moms opt to find instructions online and go the DIY route.

Wondering whether you should try taking placenta pills? Get more info, real-mom stories, and expert tips in the What to Expect app.

What are the risks or potential downsides?

Placenta encapsulation comes with some serious risks that are important to know about:

Infections

Placentas are raw, blood-filled organs that can easily be contaminated. They aren’t sterile, and there's no guarantee that placenta encapsulation kills harmful pathogens.

That means that if a woman has an intrauterine infection, she might re-expose herself to the bacteria or virus when she consumes her placenta pills. And if she’s breastfeeding, that infection could get passed on to her baby.

In fact, a CDC report highlighted a case where a mom and her baby both got sick from group B strep (GBS) in her placenta pills. This serious infection can lead to potentially life-threatening conditions including sepsis and meningitis.

There can also be a risk for infection if the placenta gets contaminated during the encapsulation process — if it wasn’t refrigerated properly, for example.

Exposure to heavy metals

Heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and mercury accumulate in the placenta during pregnancy, and they show up in placenta pills.

Consuming the pills can expose you to low doses of these metals, which could potentially be harmful if you take the pills over a long period of time.

"Learning more that the placenta is a filter of toxins put me more on the fence to do it again," says What to Expect Community mom Mamaren-est2021.

Decreased milk supply

Some fans of placenta encapsulation say that placenta pills can boost milk supply. But there’s no research to back this up, and in fact, the opposite is just as likely to be true.

That’s because the placenta contains the pregnancy hormone progesterone, which inhibits the production of the milk-producing hormone prolactin.

Blood clots

Women have a higher chance of developing harmful blood clots in the early weeks after giving birth. Placenta pills could heighten this risk, since the placenta contains the hormone estrogen, which increases levels of clotting factors in blood.

Are there benefits to taking pills made from your own placenta, and why do some moms do it?

The placenta is loaded with vitamins and minerals like vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and iron. It’s also rich in reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone that drop after you give birth.

So theoretically, consuming your placenta (whole or in pill form) seems like it would be really good for you.

Supporters of the practice say that placenta pills can help prevent anemia, boost milk supply, balance hormones, and even lower your chances of having postpartum depression.

Indeed, one small survey of women who’d eaten their placentas found that 40% reported improvements in their mood, 26% reported more energy and less fatigue, 15% said breastfeeding had gotten better, and 7% reported less vaginal bleeding and discharge.

The problem is that there’s not much science to support these claims. A review of the research published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology concluded that placenta consumption — in capsules or in other forms — doesn't deliver any benefits, and that it could potentially be harmful. In fact, some studies have shown that moms who consume their placentas have a 15% to 20% higher risk of developing postpartum depression.

"[My midwife] said that resting, getting enough help, eating well, and taking vitamins are more helpful for postpartum than eating my placenta," says What to Expect Community mom Caribbeanmama.

So why do so many new moms seem to feel better after eating pills made from their placenta? It all comes down to the placebo effect, experts say. If you expect to feel good after eating your placenta, you’ll probably feel that way.

That said, some moms who expect to get a boost from their placenta find that they don't really notice any benefits.

"I encapsulated with my third baby and to be honest, I didn’t notice a difference physically or emotionally in how I felt,” says What to Expect Community mom laurenwilsey. “I was kind of disappointed because I was really anticipating it making me feel a lot different.”

How much does placenta encapsulation cost?

Prices vary widely. You can expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $600 to have a company or doula encapsulate your placenta.

If you choose to go the DIY route, you’ll have to cover the cost of the equipment (like a dehydrator, rubber gloves, capsules, a capsule machine, and a jar for storing the pills).

Should you try placenta encapsulation?

The CDC says that placenta encapsulation should be avoided. Consuming placenta pills has the potential to pose serious health risks to you and your baby. Plus, the science shows that there aren’t any measurable benefits.

"I believe that a healthy diet, sleep, hydration, exercise, and lots of social and familial support are the magic bullets for effective postpartum recovery," says Dr. Amaru. “These are superior to any supplement, placenta capsules included.”

If you’re thinking about encapsulating your placenta, it’s important to first weigh the risks and benefits with your doctor. And if you’re delivering at a hospital or birthing center, be sure to find out if it will allow you to take your placenta home or send it off for processing. (Most will, but you'll likely have to sign some paperwork.)

Placenta encapsulation might be trendy. But there’s no good evidence to back up the supposed benefits — and consuming placenta pills can pose real risks to you and your baby. If you think you might want to have your placenta encapsulated, be sure to talk with your doctor first.