Some eat it raw, others cook it. Some make it into jerky, and others grind the cooked, dried remains into a brown powder and fill capsules. 
 
 However it's done, eating the placenta after childbirth is thought to ward off postpartum depression and boost milk production, among other things. There is no solid scientific evidence backing these benefits, though, and cooking it reduces the nutritional content. Nevertheless, the practice of eating the fetus-nourishing organ has strayed from the fringe in recent years, with celebrities such as January Jones and Kim Kardashian joining in. In a December 2015 blog post, Kardashian went through her thought process, noting anecdotes of other women who had good experiences. "So,” she wrote, “I thought, why not try it? What do I have to lose?" 
 
 As it turns out, the answer is the health of your newborn, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a new case report published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers caution against the practice, noting that the commercial and at-home preparation methods could leave your DIY organ supplements contaminated with infectious pathogens. 
 
 At least that was the case for one Oregon mother. In September of 2016, the healthy woman, who gave birth to a healthy baby after an uncomplicated pregnancy, watched (likely in horror) as her newborn’s health quickly deteriorated. Shortly after birth, the baby showed signs of respiratory distress, was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, and was found to have a life-threatening blood infection—diagnosed as late-onset group B Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) bacteremia. After an 11-day course of antibiotics in the hospital, the baby improved and went home. 
 
 A dangerous dose 
 
 But not five days later, the baby arrived in another hospital, again with a GBS infection. Puzzled as to why the infection recurred, the doctors there started asking questions and found that the mother was taking placenta pills. She had hired a company—which the researchers only identify as “Company A”—to make pills for her. The company notes on its website that it cleans, slices, and dehydrates placentas at 115°F–160°F (46°C–71°C), then grinds and places them into about 115–200 gelatin capsules, stored at room temperature. 
 
 The researchers note that this process may not heat the organ to a high enough temperature or for long enough to reduce pathogens. For instance, when cooking meat at just 130°F, it takes around two hours to kill off Salmonella. 
 
 When the researchers examined the pills, they found that they were packed with not just placenta powder but GBS as well. Using whole genome sequencing at CDC labs, researchers found that the GBS strains in the pills were genetically indistinguishable from the GBS infecting the baby. 
 
 GBS is commonly found in and on adults, but it usually doesn’t cause infections. In newborns with undeveloped immune responses, however, it can wreak havoc. And the strain of GBS found in this case was particularly nasty; it had virulence factors that allowed it to easily slip through the intestinal lining and into the bloodstream—and potentially cross the blood-brain barrier. 
 
 The doctors speculate that ingesting the bacteria-crammed capsules elevated the GBS levels in the mother’s intestines and/or on her skin. And those bolstered bacteria were then able to transfer to the baby. 
 
 “The placenta encapsulation process does not per se eradicate infectious pathogens; thus, placenta capsule ingestion should be avoided,” the researchers conclude. “Clinicians should inquire about a history of placenta ingestion in cases of late-onset GBS infection and educate mothers interested in placenta encapsulation about the potential risks.” ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video 
 
 CLEVELAND, Ohio-- A local mom thought she had made the best decision for her baby while in utero by choosing medicinal marijuana to treat extreme sickness and pain, but now she and her husband have lost custody of the infant. 
 
 Hollie Sanford said she was suffering from extreme, debilitating morning sickness and sciatic nerve pain when she began researching the tea. 
 
 She said doctors wanted to prescribe opiates for the pain but she was worried about becoming addicted and worried about the impact on her fetus. 
 
 She and her husband, Daniel, decided the tea was a safer and more natural option. 
 
 “We did the research and THC, the psychoactive element, doesn’t reach the baby after it’s metabolized through my body,” said Hollie, “So it’s not like the baby is stoned like people might think.” 
 
 Their little girl who they named Nova was born healthy and alert September 26, but soon their happiness was shattered. 
 
 Attorney Joseph Jacobs, who is representing the Sanfords, said a drug test was wrongfully performed on the baby at Fairview Hospital. 
 
 He said the screenings are run when public assistance or Medicaid is paying for the hospital services but the hardworking Sanfords are not on public assistance and have private insurance. 
 
 “They never even asked us,” said Hollie, “They tested my baby’s diaper with the meconium stool.” 
 
 A urine sample was negative but the meconium stool, which is composed of materials from inside the womb, tested positive for a bi-product of marijuana. 
 
 Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services got involved immediately, despite court records documenting a “normal delivery” and that the baby was “very healthy at birth.” In addition to that, records show there was "no evidence the child was exposed to THC or suffered from withdrawal.” 
 
 Daniel Sanford said none of that seemed to matter at the hospital. “The case worker came in and said 'you guys can leave, but you can not take your daughter.'" 
 
 The couple was able to get Nova placed with a family member with the help of their attorney as they continue to fight the custody battle in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. 
 
 They said Magistrate Eleanore Hilow wouldn’t listen to evidence involving the tea or to case workers who recommended the baby stay with her parents. 
 
 Court records show Hilow determined “removal necessary," citing “immediate or threatened physical or emotional harm.” 
 
 Attorney Jacobs filed an immediate appeal requesting an immediate/ emergency custody hearing to return Nova to her parents. 
 
 He said even CCDCFS workers testified that it would be more harmful than good to take the infant away from her parents. 
 
 Fox 8 reached out to the courts about the case but have not received a comment. 
 
 A hearing date isn’t scheduled until December. 
 
 In the meantime, Hollie and Daniel said they are visiting Nova every day, trying to build and maintain a nurturing parental bond. 
 
 “It’s very hard. We’re just trying to be optimistic and count our blessings; that's what keeps us going,” said Hollie. “I do not have a dependency issue. I am not addicted to marijuana as has been clearly shown with my clean drug tests.” ||||| The woman on the surveillance video arrived at the Tucson International Airport as an expectant mother — and walked out without her newborn baby. 
 
 This week, the Tucson Airport Authority released new information about a Jan. 14 incident, including a video, revealing chilling new details about a woman who authorities say abandoned a newborn in an airport bathroom around 9 p.m. A rental call employee found the boy and a note. 
 
 “I just want what is best for him and it is not me. Please. Im sorry,” the note read. 
 
 The baby was found with a torn umbilical cord and responding medics clamped it to prevent any harm, an airport police report said. 
 
 Juana Quintana, a custodian, told police she encountered the woman and asked if she was okay after seeing pools of blood on a bathroom floor. The baby was naked with its eyes closed, Quintana said, but the woman said the baby was three months old and left in a hurried manner. 
 
 Quintana said she found bloody clothes in the trash can with paper towels on top in an apparent effort to conceal them. 
 
 The baby appeared healthy otherwise and was transported to a nearby hospital, airport spokeswoman Jessie Butler said in summary provided to The Washington Post. The baby is now in the custody of the Arizona Department of Child Safety, she said. 
 
 The airport authority also released photos of the scene and the handwritten letter found with the child. 
 
 “Please help me. My mom had no idea she was pregnant. She is unable and unfit to take care of me. Please get me to the authorities so they can find a good home,” the message said, scrawled on notebook paper in the voice of the newborn. 
 
 
 
 A handwritten letter found at the scene. (Tucson Airport Authority) 
 
 The note then switches to what appears to be a plea and apology from the mother. 
 
 The woman may have acted under assumption she was protected by regulations designed for new mothers to leave newborns with authorities without penalty. The law, known as the safe-haven law or Baby Moses law, allows newborns to be left at designated areas like hospitals and firehouses to prevent the deadly practice of stranding unwanted babies. It applies in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., though states have differing regulations. 
 
 In 1999, Texas became the first state to pass a safe-haven law following reports of 13 abandoned babies in the Houston area in the first 10 months of the year, which prompted public outcry and legislative action, according to a Nevada state government review of the legal framework. The concept has roots in a similar series of abandoned babies in Alabama in 1998. 
 
 But the airports are not among facilities commonly designated as safe havens. Criminal charges have yet to be determined, the Arizona Daily Star reported, and the woman remains unidentified. 
 
 “We would like to know who she is but we’ve exhausted our resources,” Butler told the paper. In a summary of the incident, Butler said the airport police are not actively looking for the woman but will pursue any leads they receive. 
 
 In Arizona, babies must be under 72 hours old and unharmed to be legally abandoned, and has led to 40 rescues in the state and more than 3,300 nationwide, the Arizona Safe Baby Haven Foundation says. 
 
 The group lists six hospitals in the state where “drawers” are used to discreetly leave babies behind, though none of them are in Tucson. At one of the hospitals, Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, a drawer is connected to an internal alarm that alerts hospital staff of a dropped baby, according to a 2014 story by Raising Arizona Kids magazine. 
 
 “We hear stories where a baby is abandoned, or a mother who has had a baby doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know who to turn to. There are a lot of different things that are probably going through a mother’s mind. There is a lot of fear,” said Kimberly Marshall, a nurse practitioner and co-founder of the Arizona Safe Baby Haven Foundation. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 ‘He’s a hero’: 11-year-old boy dies after trying to save a friend trapped in an icy pond 
 
 A Marine veteran tried to confront a tailgating driver and was shot in the head, officials say
– There are the routine entries of the pregnancy to-do list: Buy and safely install the car seat. Set up the crib. Stock a drawer with tiny onesies. But on Jordan Thiering's list, this odd item: Go to court to secure her right to her placenta. The Mississippi woman had determined she wanted to eat the placenta that was sustaining her unborn son after his birth. It's an age-old practice called placentophagy that WebMD points out is practiced in the animal kingdom and among tribal women—and a trendier set, with the Atlantic noting that celebs like Kourtney Kardashian and January Jones have extolled the practice. And while a 2015 analysis of 10 studies on the subject found it provided no "protection against postpartum depression" and had no positive effect on lactation, energy, or maternal bonding, Thiering didn't care. "If it does nothing, it does nothing, but it's the whole perspective of being able to kind of have what I want, rightfully so," she tells the Clarion-Ledger. But when the Brandon woman told her doctor about her plan to encapsulate the organ, which typically weighs about a pound by the baby's birth, her doctor suggested she check with the hospital. It gave her some surprising news—she needed a court order. A memo provided to the newspaper by state epidemiologist Dr. Thomas Dobbs explains the state's view: that no hospital "may release non-infectious medical waste (including placental tissue) without there first having been obtained by a court order ... which will assure proper disposal by the release." Her petition was granted by the court on May 17, and her attorney hopes Thiering has "paved the way" for other women. (The placenta may have saved this boy's life.)