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Placenta

What happens to the placenta after birth: disposed of by the hospital, kept (for burial or as a keepsake), or prepared for consumption.

What should we do with the placenta?

In short: Parents choose between 3 main approaches: Hospital disposal; Keep for burial or keepsake; Encapsulation. Evidence: your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. Best settled: during pregnancy.

Evidence
Your call
Best settled
During pregnancy
Part of
Pregnancy to first birthday

Placenta: what are the options?

Parents usually land on one of these 3 approaches.

  1. 1. Hospital disposal

    The hospital disposes of the placenta.

  2. 2. Keep for burial or keepsake

    You take the placenta home, to bury or keep in some form.

  3. 3. Encapsulation

    The placenta is dried and put into capsules to swallow.

Placenta: what does the evidence say?

Your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. (Values, with a safety caution)

CDC linked one infant's group B strep infection to the mother's placenta capsules

Sources

What else is worth knowing?

Most placentas are disposed of by the hospital. Some families keep theirs for cultural or personal reasons, and some have it made into capsules. If you want to keep it, tell your care team beforehand because hospitals have their own rules.

Questions to ask each other

  • Is there anything you would want done with the placenta, or would you rather not think about it?
  • Do we have cultural or personal views about it?
  • Who should we tell our wishes to before the birth?

More in Pregnancy, birth and arrival

First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.