A doctor has claimed that eating the placenta after giving birth is ''cannibalism''.

Eating placenta is cannibalism

Eating placenta is cannibalism

A new report published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has revealed that more and more mothers in the UK and US are turning the organ into pills and taking them as part of their daily routine because it's believed to speed up the birthing recovery and helps ward off the baby blues.

However, Alex Farr, of the Medical University of Vienna, has shot down the claims and is adamant that eating the placenta doesn't help lactation or post-natal depression.

According to the Mirror Online, Dr Farr said: ''Medically speaking, the placenta is a waste product. Most mammals eat the placenta after birth, but we can only guess why they do so. After the placenta is genetically part of the newborn, eating the placenta borders on cannibalism. The presumed nutrients such as iron, selenium and zinc are not present in sufficient concentrations in the placenta. However, high concentrations of high metals in the placenta were found to accumulate there during pregnancy.''

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