Lisa...somebody pointed out to me off list that when a mammal consumes their placenta in the wild, they eat it all at once, immediately after birth, when the hormone levels have not yet plunged, not over several days or even weeks the way moms consuming encapsulated placentas do. It seems there might be a difference there.

Another thing I have been thinking about is that animals in the wild don't have anyone to cook them a nice steak or lasagna dinner after giving birth. Perhaps they are really hungry and the placenta provides them with a good meal without them having to abandon their young after just giving birth. If they went out for a meal and left the placenta(s) behind with a bunch of little newborns who smell like birth, the babies would be doubly at risk. So they get to clean up, have a meal and protect their young without abandoning them. Don't forget that many hungry enough mammals will even eat their own young...so just because they do it, doesn't mean it is good for us!

And, finally if the progesterone is not orally bioavailable then on what level is the ingesting of placenta protecting against post partum depression, which seems to be the most common reason given for doing this in the first place.
Kathy Lilleskov

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