Kim Kardashian eats her own placenta following birth of Saint West

Kim Kardashian has decided to eat her placenta following the birth of her son Saint West in a bid to prevent postnatal depression.

Kanye West's wife began researching the benefits of turning her placenta into pill form before giving birth to the couple's second child earlier this month, and admits she was intrigued by stories from other mothers.

"I'm really not this holistic person or someone who would have ever considered eating my placenta," she wrote on her website.

Kim Kardashian has eaten her placenta to ward off postnatal depression. Photo: Getty

"I actually thought (sister) Kourtney would have soooo done this, but I don't think she did and when I say 'eat my placenta', I mean that I'm having it freeze-dried and made into a pill form - not actually fry it like a steak and eat it (which some people do)."

"I heard so many stories when I was pregnant with North of moms who never ate their placenta with their first baby and then had postpartum depression, but then, when they took the pills with their second baby, they did not suffer from depression," she continues. "So I thought, 'Why not try it? What do I have to lose?'

"I really didn't want the baby blues and thought, 'I can't go wrong with taking a pill made of my own hormones - made by me, for me'. I started researching and read about so many moms who felt this same way and said the overall healing process was so much easier."

And, according to the 35-year-old, who struggled throughout her second pregnancy, she's bouncing back from baby faster than she did when she gave birth to daughter North - and she's crediting the placenta pills.

"I had great results and felt so energized and didn't have any signs of depression," she adds. "Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good. I totally recommend it for anyone considering it!"

However a recent study published in the periodical Archives of Women's Mental Health found eating a baby's placenta does not stop depression in new mothers or increase energy levels.

"Our sense is that women are willing to ingest something without evidence of its benefits and, more importantly, of its potential risks to themselves and their nursing infants," the study's lead author, psychologist Cynthia Coyle from Northwestern University in Illinois said.

"There are no regulations as to how the placenta is stored and prepared, and the dosing is inconsistent. Women really don't know what they are ingesting."

Placenta capsules are the most common form of consumption where the placenta is cleaned - either steamed or cut up into fine pieces - then dehydrated and encapsulated.

It's not the first time Kardashian has endorsed controversial medical aids for mothers. 

Following the announcement of her second pregnancy in May, the Keeping Up With the Kardashian star plugged a morning sickness pill on her social media channels.

She was then prompted to post a "#CorrectiveAd" on Instagram, after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found her endorsement did not meet their requirements for medical advertising.

Fairfax Media with AAP