Placenta pills touted by Halifax mom

Some new mothers in Halifax are opting to have their placentas converted to pills to treat post-partum depression, but skeptics say the new fad exists in scientific limbo.

While Mara Toombs was pregnant with her third child, she said she worried about post-partum depression. Her doula recommended placental encapsulation.

The placenta is attached to the side of the mothers uterus and feeds an unborn baby. Advocates say consuming the after birth helps fight post-partum depression, boost energy and help the flow of a mother's milk.

"I figured at worst it was going to be neutral, and at best it was going to be helpful, and that's better than a lot of medicine I had at my disposal," said Toombs.

Her pills were prepared by doula Kate Varsava in Halifax for $100.

The practice involves steaming and drying out the placenta and then turning it into capsules for consumption.

"I lay the pieces out flat on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven on the lowest setting propped open with a wooden spoon to dehydrate for, depending on the humidity in the air, 16 to 25 hours," Varsava said.

"I try to get them back to the mom within 24 hours of delivery."

So far Toombs said they seem to work.

"I definitely felt like there was a clear correlation between taking the placenta pills and feeling like myself instead of feeling like an emotional, hormonal, strange person," she said.

A cureor a crock?

Mark Kristal, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Buffalo in New York, said there'd been no clinical study on the effectiveness of humans taking placenta.

He believes positive results are either a placebo effect, or chance.

"I think it's a fad. It's based on unsupported anecdotal information that's available to everybody on the web," he said.

Toombs said she believes placental encapsulation helped her and would recommend the practice to other new moms.