A few years ago, property agent Muhammad Qamar Sofie almost ate a human placenta.
The 29-year-old, who lives with the families of his three younger brothers, got home late one night and was hungry.
'I like to cook steak. So I looked into the fridge, thought I saw a piece of steak and took it out to thaw,' he recalls.
Fortunately, he decided he was too lazy to cook, so he put the thing back.
He was appalled the next day when he realised it was actually his sister-in-law's placenta. She had just given birth and was keeping it in the fridge for burial in a Muslim ritual later. 'Thank God I didn't eat it,' he says of his near-blunder.
The placenta is a female organ which, during pregnancy, filters the mother's blood and transfers nutrients and waste products to and from the foetus. It is attached to the womb and connected to the foetus via the umbilical cord.
What people do with placentas after they are expelled from the body following childbirth came under the spotlight earlier this month. Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey reportedly said he buried the placenta from the birth of his son in an orchard, hoping that it would fertilise the land.
Actor Tom Cruise once joked that he would eat the placenta after his wife gave birth, although he later denied it.
Indeed, apart from cultural significance, the placenta is coveted by some as a valuable afterbirth product as it is rich in nutrients and hormones.
In traditional Chinese medicine, it is prescribed to improve blood circulation and is believed to hold rejuvenating qualities. In cosmetics, animal placenta is used as an ingredient in products for skin whitening and revitalising creams.
But what raises the most eyebrows - and turns the most stomachs - is that some mothers are bent on eating their own placentas for health benefits.
There are even recipe blogs and websites that provide step-by-step pictorial guides to preparing placenta dishes.
This niche trend has led young mothers Jen Chong, 33, and Kate Siah, 31, to set up MommyCozyHaven, an online business that offers placenta encapsulation services to other mothers.
For about $200, clients can have their placentas processed into dried powder and stored in capsules for consumption. The founders, who are both medical laboratory officers working in the life sciences industry, gave the assurance that they observe strict hygiene and proper safety procedures.
According to them, they remove the amniotic sac and umbilical cord and wash the placenta repeatedly. It is then sterilised under high temperature, allowed to dry, and ground into powder using what they describe as 'dedicated utensils'.
'After missing out on the chance to consume our own placentas, we felt that we should help other mothers who appreciate the benefits of this specialised organ to do so,' says Ms Chong, adding that the placenta can boost immunity and improve the general health of mothers.
Co-founder Siah, who recently gave birth to her second child, will be processing her placenta for consumption this time.
MommyCozyHaven was started last year and response has been great, says Ms Chong, a mother of two, aged four and two. So far, they have served about 15 mothers.
Both women commit their evenings and weekends to the business and accept only a maximum of four samples a month because processing one can take up to 10 hours. New clients are mostly referrals from satisfied ones, they say.
Marketing manager Geri Seow, 30, is one such happy customer. She booked the service two months before she gave birth to her son, now nine months old, and swears by the placenta, saying her health has improved since her pregnancy. She says the brownish capsule tastes 'a bit like an iron tablet'.
United States-based Jodi Selander, 31, is the founder of PlacentaBenefits, also an online business offering similar services in her country. She even sells a Do-It-Yourself Placenta Encapsulation kit which costs US$75 (S$106) and comes with instructions.
'I have sent several of these kits to women in Singapore,' says the mother of two in an e-mail interview. She quit her full-time job as a web developer after enjoying positive results from consuming her own placenta from the birth of her second daughter.
She claims that it balances the hormones, thereby preventing post-natal depression. She says: 'Many of my clients call placenta capsules their 'happy pills'.'
Doctors, though, remain sceptical. They say there is no harm in consuming one's own placenta as long as proper sterilisation is observed, but draw the line at its purported benefits.
Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Gleneagles Hospital, Dr John Yam, says: 'There is no scientific evidence that a placenta should be routinely consumed.'
Dr Choo Wan Ling, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist from Pacific HealthCare, agrees, adding: 'There is no extra benefit in consuming the placenta except for cultural beliefs.'
According to doctors from Raffles Hospital and KK Women's and Children's Hospital, all placentas in Singapore are discarded as waste products if parents do not want them.
Hospitals also say they rarely encounter patients asking to keep their placentas, and those who ask are mostly Muslims who do so for burial purposes.
Whether or not you believe in the wonders of the placenta, consuming one's own organ is unlikely to become a national trend anytime soon. A majority of mothers that LifeStyle spoke to voiced their apprehension.
Housewife Adeline Tan, 27, who is 29 weeks pregnant with her second child, did not eat her placenta and does not intend to.
Teacher Lew C., 35, who has a 2 1/2-year-old son, adds: 'The gross factor just freaks me out.'
In fact, this was how art lecturer Michelle Loh, 27, who has a 21-month-old son, reacted to her placenta at childbirth: 'It was flushed out of my system and I felt a giant blob of relief.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on August 24, 2008.
