WHEN Petrina Butler told her husband that she was thinking about having her placenta encapsulated following the birth of their baby, he was shocked.

He hadn't been paying attention when the midwife in their childbirth classes at Southampton's Princess Anne Hospital explained the process and thought she was intended to have it coated in resin as some sort of unusual household decoration.

"He thought I wanted to put it on the mantle-piece to display it!" says the mother-of-one from Southampton.

By comparison, the reality of placenta encapsulation sounds pretty tame, although it may still raise a few eyebrows, and perhaps turn a few stomachs.

Following the birth of a baby, the placenta is checked over and then refrigerated before being dried, ground into a fine powder and made into capsules, much like large multi-vitamins, for the new mother to take.

You can do it yourself, slicing and drying it out overnight in the oven, but it is more common to arrange for a specialist to perform the procedure.

Fans of placenta consumption believe that it helps relieve post-natal depression, boosts breast milk production and help the mother recover from the birth, thanks to a rich mix of nutrients and hormones.

Some women also save some of the tablets, keeping them in their freezer for years, to take when they become menopausal, as they are also said to help at this time.

Evidence about the effects is anecdotal. But many women feel that even if the benefits are psychological, it is worth trying.

Meanwhile, critics have cited the lack of scientific evidence of the benefits of consuming the placenta, and some have questioned if it could be unhealthy, given the placenta's role in waste removal.

And while advocates note that many animals eat their placentas, critics point out that this may be to remove the evidence of a recent birth - and therefore a vulnerable mother and infant - from potential predictors.

However, consuming the placenta seems to be gaining in popularity.

And many mothers favour placenta encapsulation as a more palatable option than cooking their placenta or eating it raw, while others combine more than one method.

It has hit the headlines a number of times in recent years, often because celebrities such as television presenter and footballer's wife Colleen Rooney, Mad Men star January Jones and actress Alicia Silverstone have had their placentas encapsulated.

Petrina, from Southampton, had a table-spoon-size chunk blended into a smoothie with lots of berries while she was in recovery following being induced with the daughter Willow, and the rest turned into tablets.

And despite being vegan, and therefore not used to the taste of flesh, she says she couldn't taste that she wasn't just drinking fruit.

She decided she wanted to consume her placenta as she felt it was a natural way to regain nutrients.

"I'm very glad I did because I haemorrhaged and lost two and a half litres of blood, so we were extra glad that I could put the nutrients straight back," she says.

"I didn't do it for any specific reason - just for all the benefits and it seemed a shame to waste it."

Petrina gave birth at the Princess Anne Hospital and found all the medical staff were very supportive of her choice to keep her placenta and have it encapsulated.

"No one said it was weird or was negative about it - they were very supportive," she says.

She arranged for a private midwife to carry out the encapsulation and received around 200 tablets.

"I know some women eat the whole thing but I don't think I could," she adds.

"Who knows if it's a placebo effect which makes you feel better but I definitely think it helped me.

"It was part of the birth experience and something I was able to have control over, which was especially good as I'd had to be induced and hadn't wanted to be."

Lillian Sediles from Hamble also felt that that while she was keen to be able to consume her placenta, she didn't want to go too 'au natural' with it.

""I know some people cook it or eat it raw but that's too weird for me!" says the mother of Lavinia, who is almost two.

Her midwife suggested she tried it and as Lillian knew someone who had suffered badly with post-natal depression she felt with the anecdotal evidence that consuming one's placenta can help ward off baby blues, it was worth trying.

Lillian felt fine after giving birth, and having taken a few tablets, decided to save the rest for when she goes through the menopause.

"Some of the benefit could be psychological, but that's OK.

"I felt they helped me and I thought it would be good to save the rest for later," she says.

"It was nice for me to know they were there. It gave me peace of mind to know I could take them if I felt I needed to.

"I liked that I was taking charge of what happened - that was part of the appeal.

"I have had some negative reactions - some people are grossed out by the idea of eating something from one's own body.

"I know some people bury them and then plant something on it but I wanted to do something useful with mine and people say it is so good for you."

Libby Pearce from Shirley, Southampton had considered eating her placenta raw before she heard about placenta encapsulation.

She had it done when her daughter, now two-and-a-half, was born.

"Being a first time mum, people tell you about all the bad bits about having children," she says.

"I thought 'I don't care if the benefits are psychological. If it makes a difference, I'll give it a go.'"

Libby did feel that taking the tablets helped her post partum.

"I haemorrhaged and felt that I recovered a lot more quickly than if I hadn't had the tablets," she says.

"I took all of them - two or three a day to start with take then one a day for a few months. I thought I might as well take them all - it's was mine, no one else was going to want to take them!

"I had a huge over-supply of breast milk. I could have fed the whole of Shirley! I don't know if that was because I took the tablets but they are supposed to help with milk supply."

Libby has had curious rather than negative reactions when people hear that she had her placenta encapsulated.

"People do look at me strangely but they're more intrigued than negative.

"I wouldn't use it as a conversation starter, but if it comes up, people are interested."

For Libby, Petrina and Lillian, making a choice about what to do with a part of their own body and gaining some control in a time when much can seem beyond one's control was very important.

And they all feel that it's important that other mother's-to-be are aware that it's a choice that they, too, can make.

Libby concludes:"I feel its important to let people know about it and that I had a positive experience doing it."