Placenta pills? Unlicensed services help mothers ingest the afterbirth in the belief it's healthy - National Post

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Copy URL Facebook Linked In X (Twitter) Loading account options Sign In Manage Account Close account menu Sign Out Vera Kevic shows an example of placenta pills. She wants clients to come to their own conclusions about whether the pills help them. (Peter J. Thompson/Postmedia) By Courtney Greenberg and Dori Seeman, Investigative Journalism Bureau October 2, 2026 at 3:59 p.m. Last Updated: November 2, 2026 at 10:16 a.m. Celebrities and influencers from Kim Kardashian to Mandy Moore and Chrissy Teigen have endorsed them. And posts by Canadian moms on social media enthuse about them too, garnering thousands of likes and comments.

They’re talking about services that help mothers eat their own placenta, mostly in pill form. And although Health Canada says such businesses are illegal, many women believe the placenta — also known as the afterbirth — will help them with postpartum depression, boost mood and increase milk production.

The Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) found more than 40 companies or individuals who offer placenta encapsulation operating across Canada. None is licensed to dehydrate the organ, turn it into pills and sell it, according to Health Canada spokesperson Karine LeBlanc.

Based on scientific studies, there are no documented benefits either, the IJB found. But there are risks for women and newborn babies, including exposure to infections caused by viral or bacterial contamination, Health Canada said in a 2018 advisory, which it says still applies.

“Depending upon the type of infection, this could become serious or, in the most grave of cases, even life-threatening,” the federal department said in a notice the same year.

It said it has investigated nine cases of companies that advertised unauthorized human placenta products since 2020. Health Canada declined comment on the outcomes of those cases.

Stephanie Alouche says she is not among those investigated.

The Toronto-based doula and mother was introduced to the practice of consuming the placenta — known as placentophagy — after a client gave birth in the early 2000s. Since then, she says she has processed roughly 700 placentas in Ontario.

Alouche takes the placenta, usually provided to her in a cooler on ice and sometimes only hours after a baby is born, and processes it in her home. That involves dehydrating the pancake-shaped organ and putting the powder into pills. One placenta can yield up to 200 pills, depending on the size.

Alouche doesn’t advertise any perceived benefits of placenta pills online, but many other encapsulators in Canada promote them as a potential solution for postpartum depression, iron depletion, mood swings and milk production.

Alouche ate her own placenta 20 years ago, after her fourth child was born. She said that, as a result, the “highs and lows (of the postpartum period) were not as intense” as in the aftermath of her previous births, and she had “a more grounded, steady energy.”

Most of the placenta encapsulators reviewed by the IJB prepared the placenta by steaming, then dehydrating it. The placenta can be made into capsules, chocolate, smoothies, ointments or tinctures. (A tincture is a concentrated solution made from soaking a substance, like a placenta, in alcohol or vinegar.)

Encapsulation can cost between $150 and $650, with add-ons such as tinctures starting at $20.

Her own role, said Alouche, “is simply not to endorse placenta encapsulation in the sense of health. It’s to respect the parent’s decision.”

Asked about Health Canada’s position, she said, “Health Canada licenses manufactured health products, not traditional placenta preparation services.”

“The placenta remains the client’s personal property at all times, and I prepare it according to their cultural, personal or traditional preferences.”

The placenta is a temporary organ that forms in a woman’s uterus during pregnancy. It connects to the fetus via the umbilical cord, providing oxygen and nutrients. It also absorbs discarded waste from the baby’s blood, according to the Mayo Clinic. After birth, the placenta is delivered and, in most cases, discarded.

The medical community is at odds with those who say ingesting the placenta is natural and can benefit mothers.

“Clinically, we would never recommend eating the placenta,” said Dr. Anne-Maude Morency, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and associate professor in obstetrics-gynecology at McGill University.

While the most common claim made by placenta encapsulators is that it can help with postpartum depression, “there’s no scientific literature supporting that,” Morency says.

One placenta encapsulator website even says placentas with human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes can be prepared for consumption. Many of the companies said it was safe to ingest a placenta that had Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a common bacteria. While often harmless to adults, it can be life-threatening for babies.

“That’s quite potentially unsafe,” Morency said in response to those claims.

In 2016, a baby in the United States was hospitalized after the mother ate placenta pills that contained GBS. In its report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevision said “no standards exist for processing placenta for consumption.”

Dr. Roger Pierson, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Saskatchewan, told the IJB in an email that he “would be highly skeptical of any human product processed in a non-certified laboratory environment.”

One expert told the IJB that there is no equipment specifically designed to process placentas. “You’re using a coffee grinder that’s not intended to grind up blood products, right? Same thing with the pill makers. All of those things are just not built for that kind of practice,” said Michelle Pensa Branco, a lactation consultant and co-founder of nonprofit SafelyFed Canada.

Jehannine Austin, head of the University of British Columbia’s department of medical genetics, co-authored a 2019 study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Canada that found no evidence of benefits for women who ate their placenta after birth.

“That doesn’t mean that categorically the benefit doesn’t exist. All I’m saying is there’s no evidence to support it having the benefits that are being claimed,” Austin said.

As for the promise of increased milk supply, Branco said eating the placenta can have the opposite effect because of progesterone, a hormone found in the placenta. Taken over time, progesterone can potentially “tamp down” supply, she said.

Branco said she was surprised and worried that there were dozens of placenta encapsulators still operating after Health Canada’s 2018 notice.

“What we’re talking about here is human tissue, blood tissue, that’s being consumed over a period of time by people, and is being prepared … with the same food dehydrator that’s being used to do multiple other placentas,” she said.

LeBlanc said if Health Canada were made aware of health products being sold illegally, it could take action such as “stopping sales, seizing products, and communicating risks or other information to the public.”

Tedi Fisher is a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine in B.C. who decided to eat her own placenta after giving birth to her children, now aged nine and six.

Fisher said taking the pills made her feel energetic and balanced.

“I’m well aware of all of the criticism, and I have lots of western doctors who ask me questions about it.”

Fisher’s own research led her to a placenta encapsulator she met with before giving birth so she could learn more about the process. She said she had “peace of mind” because she was tested for GBS before the birth.

She said it’s important not to think of placenta pills as a magic bullet. “It would be a huge disservice if a woman didn’t seek psychological care … and just relied on the placenta.”

The IJB asked health authorities across Canada what their policies were for patients who wanted to take their placenta home from the hospital.

B.C. Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, Alberta Health Services, Saskatchewan Health Authority, New Brunswick’s Vitalité Health Network, Health PEI, Santé Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador’s NL Health Services told the IJB that patients must typically fill out a waiver or release form before a placenta can be released.

Nova Scotia’s IWK Health and New Brunswick’s Horizon Health Network do not require a waiver, but said they provide information about risks to patients.

IWK Health said it tells patients the placenta is “human biological waste” and should be handled “as a biohazard.” “Placentas naturally contain bacteria from the birth process, may carry infectious organisms like E. coli, and begin to decompose shortly after delivery.”

Ontario’s Ministry of Health did not respond to the IJB’s inquiries.

“Once you deliver the baby and the placenta delivers, there’s no further function to that organ,” said Dr. Darine El-Chaar, a maternal-fetal medicine physician at The Ottawa Hospital.

She said she understands the desire to honour the placenta by turning it into art or making a keepsake, as some mothers do, but when it comes to consuming it, she has concerns due to clinical guidelines and risks involved.

El-Chaar said it was possible that some cooking methods might eliminate certain bacteria in the placenta, but that these methods would also “degrade” any nutrients that would make eating it potentially beneficial.

“We’re not judging or criticizing. We’re trying to find ways to (honour the placenta) safely,” El-Chaar said.

Health Canada does not track reports of adverse reactions associated with placenta products because there are no such authorized products in Canada, said spokesperson LeBlanc. Health Canada’s regulatory oversight does not extend to individuals who prepare their placenta for personal use, she added.

The nine cases investigated by Health Canada since 2020 were primarily related to placenta encapsulation services, including capsules, tinctures, salves and topical creams to be used by the person who provided the placenta, LeBlanc said.

Those cases have been closed. Health Canada would not provide more details, citing its need “to protect the integrity of the compliance process.”

Vera Kevic, a doula at Doulas on Bikes based in Toronto, started encapsulating placentas about 10 years ago. She says she processes about three placentas a month in a workspace, and never does them at the same time, to ensure there’s no cross-contamination.

When asked by clients if they should encapsulate their placenta, she says she encourages them to do their own research.

Kevic says she doesn’t advertise benefits online because she wants clients to come to the conclusion on their own. “As a doula, I’m not a medical person in the room, so I’m not actually advising one way or the other.”

When asked about Health Canada’s policy, Kevic said: “We provide services, we don’t sell products. And we don’t claim to be licensed, nor do we make any claims or recommendations about this practice.”

Many companies analyzed by the IJB list certifications from various placenta encapsulation organizations. Some said they had done food safety training or training in bloodborne pathogens. Those certifications do not constitute authorization from Health Canada to manufacture or distribute a health product containing human placenta, said LeBlanc.

Health products containing human placenta meet the definition of a drug, she said. That means if encapsulators want to be licensed under the Food and Drugs Act and its regulations, they must provide “evidence of quality, safety, and efficacy” to Health Canada.

No health products containing human placenta are currently authorized by the department.

Mothers are simply “doing what we can to help ourselves,” said Fisher.

“And if we’re willing to pay for something, and take what I deem a calculated minimal risk that can help, I think we should have the agency to do so.”

The Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health is a collaborative investigative newsroom supported by Postmedia that partners with academics, researchers and journalists while training the next generation of investigative reporters.

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