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Hannah Brown hoped a video of her afterbirth gummies would help other mums recover from labour – instead cruel strangers called her ‘a cannibal’ after she went viral
Hannah Brown trolled for eating own placenta as gummies
Hannah Brown had such a traumatic pregnancy with her first child that when she finally decided to have another baby she was determined to do everything differently second time around. She signed up for hypnobirthing classes and made the controversial decision to eat her own placenta, hoping that it would help her recover from labour.
She signed up to have her afterbirth turned into teddy bear-shaped gummies and posted a video on Instagram of herself eating them, thinking that just her friends, family and followers would see it. Instead, the 34-year-old from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, went viral, with her video being seen five million times by strangers who left cruel comments on the new mum’s feed.
But all Hannah had hoped for was a more positive birth experience after she was left traumatised by her first child Lucy’s birth in 2018. During that pregnancy, she and her husband Christopher were told that their unborn baby had a hole in her heart, which could lead to further complications.
It was an “all consuming” time where Hannah was tense with worry until finally she delivered her healthy girl at 38 weeks, weighing 6lb 14oz. “I had to be constantly monitored and I had high levels of anxiety,” she says. “But it was such an empowering moment giving birth to Lucy at 38 weeks. Against all odds, I’d done it. A scan when she was five weeks old showed the holes had closed and now, at the age of six she’s thriving, with no issues.”
But the entire experience left its mark on Hannah. “I needed therapy, and was very anxious. I felt as though I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could. It took me five years to try for another child because of the trauma. So when I fell pregnant in 2023, I knew I wanted it to be different and I wanted to be more in control.”
But at her 12-week scan, the midwives said her placenta wasn’t working as well as they’d like, meaning she was at increased risk of stillbirth, pre-eclampsia, low birth weight or early birth. “For a moment all the trauma I’d suffered before came flooding back. But I knew much more about the birth world now,” Hannah says.
Against professional advice, she insisted on a home birth. “I needed to keep calm so the baby would be calm. We even paid to go on a hypnobirthing course ourselves, to help Christopher and me feel confident about having the baby at home.”
She also looked into eating her own placenta following labour after reading about the benefits of it. Believing that it would help increase her milk supply, improve energy and reduce postnatal depression she signed up with the Placenta Plus company, and paid £270 to have her afterbirth turned into pills.
In October 2023, Hannah gave birth at home to Jake, who weighed 6lb 4oz, accompanied by Christopher, four paramedics and two midwives. “I used all my hypnobirthing techniques, listening to my body and breathing whilst clutching the toilet seat. I zoned out from everything going on around me and put full trust in my body.
“Just 33 minutes later, as the midwives ran up the stairs, I gave birth on the landing. I cried with relief and happiness. Nearly an hour later, I birthed the placenta into a bowl, Chris put it in the freezer while we waited for it to be collected.”
When she received the teddy bear-shaped gummies made of her own placenta she says they helped improve her wellbeing. “It’s not scientifically proven, but I definitely felt less anxious after the birth. It was just like taking vitamins.”
Hannah filmed herself eating one of the placenta pills and posted it on her Instagram account with the caption: “Just casually eating my placenta like it’s Haribo. Anyone else had their placenta encapulsated?” It was quickly seen five million times. “I posted the video online and when I looked at my phone hours later, it had blown up,” she says.
“At first people were interested, then the video hit America and I started getting messages from people saying it was horrific or like cannibalism, people asking why anyone would have sex with me, calling me ugly, or even saying that my baby and I needed to die. My sister also thought it was disgusting and some of my family were mortified that I planned on eating my placenta, it didn’t phase me though, I just kept thinking about all the people I could help by sharing it.
“I didn’t let the comments upset me. But some of them were really bad. People thought it was out of the ordinary and didn’t know what to make of it. Although I went viral almost for the wrong thing, I would absolutely do it again and lots of people are intrigued. Once people start to hear positive stories from others, that’s when they see the benefits.”
Inspired by her whole experience Hannah became a hypnobirth instructor, launching her business, Hypnobirthing With Hannah (hypnobirthingwithhannah.co.uk) to try and help families around the world.
“I now help women feel calmer, less anxious and well prepared for birth and labour using hypnosis techniques,” she says. “If I can change one woman’s birth experience for the better, it’s all been worth it.”