Parents bury placenta on TV

PLACENTAS - once the preserve of nature programmes - now not only feature on cooking shows but have found their way on to a gardening series.

Next month, in what is being billed as a television first, a couple will be shown burying the placenta from the birth of their new-born son under a tree. Catriona Patterson and Steve Herbert, a Christian couple from Sheffield, believe this is the green way to dispose of an afterbirth. Ms Patterson, 24, a post-graduate student, saved the placenta from the birth of Estienne in the freezer for two months before the rite. "Some hospitals, though not Sheffield, sell the afterbirth to cosmetics companies. We wanted to do something more special, more environmentally friendly," she explained.

Mr Herbert, a radio engineer, performed the post-natal ritual for the final part of the BBC2 series Gardening Neighbours, to be broadcast on 18 December. He buried the placenta, said a prayer for his son and marked the spot by planting a birch tree.

"I think the idea is that you return to the soil the goodness from which the baby drew its nourishment in its first months. We are Christians and I think if we can carry on that tradition, it's quite a nice idea," he said.

Some regard placentas as medicine for post-natal depression - and there are a number of ways of sweetening the pill.

The Channel 4 programme, TV Dinners, favoured placenta pate, but Leslie Kenton, a health writer, chose to fry her son's afterbirth in onions.

The TV Dinners episode, which showed a family cooking and eating a placenta - not to be confused with polenta - prompted 21 complaints to the Independent Television Commission. However the watchdog ruled that the programme did not breach its code on taste and decency.

The National Childbirth Trust has published a book, Placenta Special: Eat It or Plant It? "It's a frequent topic among young mothers," said Philippa Wellborn, from the trust. "My personal opinion is: if it works for some, that's great. I have not had post-natal depression, but if I did, I'd try anything."