Placenta: The Gift of Life
Information on the role of the placenta in different cultures,
and how to prepare and use it as medicine

The Reviews

Cathy Daub, PT, CCE(BWI), CD(BWI), CD(DONA), Founder and President of Birth Works International

"Placental remedies have been found to help heal a wide scope of conditions such as increasing milk supply, decreasing postpartum depression, treating newborn colic, whooping cough, and diseases of the heart and circulatory system. I found myself wondering, 'Is there anything the placenta cannot do?'"

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Jan Robinson, Midwifery Practitioner, Australia

"It will hold a treasured spot in my professional library."

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Jodi Selander, The Placenta Blog

"The book is a quick and easy read, but it is packed full of information pertaining to all things placenta; a brief history of placenta rituals and practices, as well as a thorough recipe guide at the back. If you are curious about placenta and all its wonders, this book will definitely give you a broad base of knowledge that you will find helpful."

Read complete review

Complete Reviews

Cathy Daub, PT, CCE(BWI), CD(BWI), CD(DONA), Founder and President of Birth Works International

We need the placenta in order to be born. It is truly a gift of life. In this insightful and well-researched book, Cornelia Enning takes us through a journey from ancient times to the present describing various belief systems and practices that surround the placenta in cultures of the world. Though these beliefs and practices vary from culture to culture, they are united in their perception of the placenta as being a medicinal, healing, and spiritual organ. This is in stark contrast to western culture where placentas are thrown into the trash with complete disregard and a lack of respect for their potential healing properties.

Other countries of the world from Japan and China to Europe, Russia, and Mexico, have used the placenta for its healing properties since ancient times and consider it to be a powerful and sacred medicine, full of life force. Placental remedies have been found to help heal a wide scope of conditions such as increasing milk supply, decreasing postpartum depression, treating newborn colic, whooping cough, and diseases of the heart and circulatory system. I found myself wondering, "Is there anything the placenta cannot do?"

Enning lends credibility to the idea of preserving placentas, by bringing in a scientific perspective to balance the faith and superstition surrounding placentas. Estrogens that lower cholesterol, and prostaglandins and enzymes that influence blood vessels are all found in placental tissue along with stem cells. I was fascinated to learn that the placenta continues to be of value after birth and into adulthood for midlife conditions such as menopause, hair loss and scalp problems, and treating skin conditions.

To preserve the placenta for extended use, Ennings provides information as to how to preserve the placenta, along with placental recipes. How about some German Potato Soup that contains one teaspoon of placenta?

I wish I had known about the value of the placenta because I would have saved mine and trusted it over pharmacological medicines in many cases. However, an intuitive part of me believed in its wonder and mystery which led me to save a piece of my children's umbilical cords in their baby books.

As there is much research in the book, I found myself craving stories from women about using placental remedies. I wish the couple stories at the end could have been moved to an earlier section of the book and that more stories could have been included. I highly recommend this book for all pregnant women.

Jan Robinson, Midwifery Practitioner, Australia

Knowing the placenta as the largest endocrine organ in the human body with many and varied physiological properties, midwives working in hospital delivery units are usually appalled to find the afterbirth treated as trash. After routine inspection for completeness and abnormalities they are weighed, measured and unceremoniously dumped into the "placenta muncher" to be transported into the hospital's sewer system. This approach to the management of the third stage of labour leaves many women searching for more 'family-friendly' ways to farewell their baby's placenta.

Cornelia Enning has collected placental anecdotes from around the world both spiritual and practical. Historic stories from many countries and cultural recipes for placental products will supplement the meagre knowledge that most midwives glean from their student studies about the secundines. The one page left for notes at the back of this book is possibly inadequate. One would imagine this note page to be filled very quickly once readers of the book start to exchange placenta stories and recipes.

Packed with succinct information and printed in large font, the contents of this book are easily scanned. I finished reading my copy in less than an hour. A compact A5 size paperback (only 80 pages) the book does not take up too much space and stores easily in the midwife's mobile lending library or as a reference book on the work-desk. The shiny cover of this book can be easily wiped with a cloth if spillages occur. Good value for money. It will hold a treasured spot in my professional library.