as a student midwife, I see and handle lots of placentas and they don't gross me out. I think they're really cool, actually. I can't wait until we have a twin birth b/c I'm totally psyched about checking out how two babies are nourished inside their mama. The placenta is a really awesome organ, IMO. I can't believe it nourishes a baby!
In my 6 months of training, I've missed as many births as I've attended. Two of the ones that I missed, I still did the pp care for (I was too close to turn around and go home!). I noticed at those births, I smelled the "meaty" smell of the blood and placenta. At the births I was there the whole time, I didn't notice that smell. I think eating the placenta would be kinda like that...if you're there and in the moment, it would naturally follow, but when you remove it from that moment, it seems gross.
I'm pretty aware of my body. I check cervical mucous, position, etc. Use a cervical cap for birth control and a keeper for menstrual flow. I wanted to see the placenta after the birth and if it hadn't been for the excitment of holding my baby, I would have held and played with it, probably. I wanted to make placenta prints with it to hang on my office wall (but didn't plan enough ahead of time to do that). However, I'm not sure when push came to shove if I could EAT it. Maybe if I had transported for hemorrhage or if I'd had sever postpartum depression, I would feel differently about it, but right now it seems like the benefits wouldn't really outweigh the gross factor (not because it's my placenta, but because I don't really do well with meat that isn't 100% cooked...can't even cut up raw chicken). And again, in the moment, I might feel totally different about it.
And yes, I am very suprised about the reaction here. Much more mainstream than I would have expected!
uke 
