Editing Placentophagy (section)

=== Satiation of hunger ===
Some initial conjectures related directly to the satiation of specific and general maternal hunger.<ref name=":3" /> These hinged on the idea that prior to parturition mothers ceased to eat and so, immediately after birth they consumed the placenta to satisfy an intense hunger. A further idea was that of specific hunger, according to which the maternal figure participated in placentophagy in order to replenish any resources depleted during pregnancy that were contained within the placenta.<ref name=":22" /> This was later disproved by studies on rats and other species showing that a wide range of animals do not typically decrease the amount of food or water taken in prior to delivery, and that rats presented with placenta will consume it regardless of pregnancy or virginity.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":22" /><ref name=":4">{{cite journal|last1=Kristal|first1=Mark|last2=Wampler|first2=Richard|date=1973|title=Food and water intake prior to parturition in the rat|journal=Physiological Psychology|volume=1|issue=3|pages=297–300|doi=10.3758/BF03326927|doi-access=free}}</ref>