Perplexing perinatal practices

Isaacs, David

doi:10.1111/jpc.13839

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Finally, based on the recent case studies, 18 and subsequent clinical recommendations 16 and observations, 17 wherein adverse outcomes were associated with raw placenta consumption, we limited the analysis to placentophagic women and compared those who ate raw vs cooked placenta. A similar backwards stepwise process was employed for these analyses.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite reported favorable experiences with placentophagy, some alarms have been sounded by clinicians 16,17 following a recent case report in the United States suggesting that there may be harms associated with this behavior for the neonate. 18 Given the low frequency of placentophagy in the general population, 19 and the fact that most infants born in high-resource settings have good outcomes, 20 few data sets exist that have not only an adequate proportion of women who consume their placentas, but are also sufficiently large so as to be adequately powered for analysis of rare, adverse outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Placentophagy among women planning community births in the United States: Frequency, rationale, and associated neonatal outcomes

Benyshek

Cheyney

Brown

et al. 2018

Birth

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Nearly one-third (30.8%) of women consumed their placenta. Consumers were more likely to have reported pregravid anxiety or depression compared with nonconsumers. Most (85.3%) placentophagic mothers consumed their placentas in encapsulated form, and nearly half (48.4%) consumed capsules containing dehydrated, uncooked placenta. Placentophagy was not associated with any adverse neonatal outcomes. Women with home births were more likely to engage in placentophagy than women with birth center births. The most common reason given (73.1%) for engaging in placentophagy was to prevent postpartum depression. [Corrections added on 16 May 2018, after first online publication: The percentage values in the Results sections were updated.] CONCLUSIONS: The majority of women consumed their placentas in uncooked/encapsulated form and hoping to avoid postpartum depression, although no evidence currently exists to support this strategy. Preparation technique (cooked vs uncooked) did not influence adverse neonatal outcomes. Maternity care providers should discuss the range of options available to prevent/treat postpartum depression, in addition to current evidence with respect to the safety of placentophagy.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placentophagy among women planning community births in the United States: Frequency, rationale, and associated neonatal outcomes

Benyshek

Cheyney

Brown

et al. 2018

Birth

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“…This widespread publication, as well as concerns regarding the potential transmission of Group B Streptococcus, prompted the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to release a committee opinion advising against performing vaginal seeding outside the context of a research study, at least until data regarding safety and benefit are available [16]. In fact, the practice has sparked lively debate in the medical/scientific literature [10,16,[18][19][20][21], including a journal editorial titled "Perplexing perinatal practices" [22]. However, while there are numerous lay sources of information on the topic, as well as more articles sharing the perspectives of clinicians and scientists than seeded babies in the original study, the views of pregnant women are yet to be investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The views of pregnant women in New Zealand on vaginal seeding: a mixed-methods study

Butler

Reynolds

Derraik

et al. 2021

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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Background Vaginal seeding is the administration of maternal vaginal bacteria to babies following birth by caesarean section (CS), intended to mimic the microbial exposure that occurs during vaginal birth. Appropriate development of the infant gut microbiome assists early immune development and might help reduce the risk of certain health conditions later in life, such as obesity and asthma. We aimed to explore the views of pregnant women on this practice. Methods We conducted a sequential mixed-methods study on the views of pregnant women in New Zealand (NZ) on vaginal seeding. Phase one: brief semi-structured interviews with pregnant women participating in a clinical trial of vaginal seeding (n = 15); and phase two: online questionnaire of pregnant women throughout NZ (not in the trial) (n = 264). Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to interview and open-ended questionnaire data. Closed-ended questionnaire responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results Six themes were produced through analysis of the open-ended data: “seeding replicates a natural process”, “microbiome is in the media”, “seeding may have potential benefits”, “seeking validation by a maternity caregiver”, “seeding could help reduce CS guilt”, and “the unknowns of seeding”. The idea that vaginal seeding replicates a natural process was suggested by some as an explanation to help overcome any initial negative perceptions of it. Many considered vaginal seeding to have potential benefit for the gut microbiome, while comparatively fewer considered it to be potentially beneficial for specific conditions such as obesity. Just under 30% of questionnaire respondents (n = 78; 29.5%) had prior knowledge of vaginal seeding, while most (n = 133; 82.6%) had an initially positive or neutral reaction to it. Few respondents changed their initial views on the practice after reading provided evidence-based information (n = 60; 22.7%), but of those who did, most became more positive (n = 51; 86.4%). Conclusions Given its apparent acceptability, and if shown to be safe and effective for the prevention of early childhood obesity, vaginal seeding could be a non-stigmatising approach to prevention of this condition among children born by CS. Our findings also highlight the importance of lead maternity carers in NZ remaining current in their knowledge of vaginal seeding research.

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Perplexing perinatal practices

Cited by 2 publications

References 7 publications

Placentophagy among women planning community births in the United States: Frequency, rationale, and associated neonatal outcomes

Placentophagy among women planning community births in the United States: Frequency, rationale, and associated neonatal outcomes

The views of pregnant women in New Zealand on vaginal seeding: a mixed-methods study

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