The latest issue of Time magazine, featuring a provocative cover photo of a mother breastfeeding her nearly four-year-old son, has sparked a media craze with everyone from U.S. congresswomen to Saturday Night Live weighing in.

What’s all the fuss all about? The photo, and the accompanying article about the attachment parenting philosophy championed by pediatrician William Sears, is generating controversy about everything from the sexualization of breastfeeding to the more fundamental question of what it means to be a good parent.

For most of our great-grandmothers, and for many women throughout the world still, giving birth at home was not a choice motivated by emotional, political, or moral conviction – it was simply the only option. Fast-forward to present-day United States, and most women are lucky enough to receive close medical supervision throughout their entire pregnancy and delivery. The vast majority of women give birth in hospitals with an OB/GYN, and throughout the 1990s, the number of home births steadily declined.

In an interesting reversal of trends, a new report from the CDC reveals that the rate of home births in the United States is now on the rise. Though the actual number is still proportionately very small – home births account for less than 1% of all births – the 30% jump between 2004 and 2009 is substantial.

So why the increase? The CDC data doesn’t say, but it seems to have a lot to do with growing concern about personal choice. Unlike our great-grandmothers, women in Western countries today do have options as to where and how they give birth, and there may be new factors making hospital births less attractive.

The placenta is a miraculous organ: it literally sustains new life. It’s no wonder that the placenta is revered in many cultures as a symbol of life and spirituality, and rituals abound regarding its handling and burial. There’s one new trend, though, that is grabbing headlines like no other – placenta eating.

That’s right. An increasing number of women are requesting that the hospital save the placenta after childbirth so that they can take it home to eat it.

Preparation methods vary – search the Internet for “placenta recipes” and you’ll find instructions for placenta lasagna, placenta pizza, and placenta stew. Other women choose to eat the placenta raw in a power shake or smoothie. For those who feel squeamish about consuming the placenta in food form, a growing number of professional placenta-preparers are being hired to cook the fresh placenta, dehydrate it, grind it, and encapsulate it into pills.

In a culture where placentas are largely regarded as biohazardous waste and are incinerated shortly after childbirth, this growing practice is causing quite a stir.

Last week on Facebook we posted a link to a New York magazine article featuring IIN student and professional placenta-preparer Jennifer Mayer for her work transforming placentas into nutritional supplements. Judging from the responses, people seem to be largely divided into two camps: those who champion the nutritional benefits of placentas and believe that placenta eating (known in the scientific community as placentophagy) is a natural act, and those who think that it’s, well, less than savory.

Why eat the placenta? Integrative Nutrition Student Services Coordinator and resident doula, certified lactation counselor, and breastfeeding educator Aisha Domingue weighs in on the topic: