There has been a longstanding belief among some new mothers that ‘placentophagia’, the practice of eating the placenta, can yield benefits. One supposed reason is that it can reduce the incidence of post-natal depression. It is also been claimed to have nutritional properties needed by women after childbirth.
The consultant Obstetricians says that animals eat their placenta to get nutrition. But since people are already well-nourished it seems no benefit to do it.
In Hawaii, there have been legal moves to give parents the right to take home a placenta from hospital. It is because a native Hawaiian belief that the placenta is part of the child.
Many parents have found this to be a fun activity as well as giving them a very unique, artistic keepsake of their pregnancy.