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Public health officials are investigating a woman who blends human placenta into smoothies for new mothers.

Kathryn Beale, 41, charges £20 to mothers who supply their own placenta so she can concoct the special elixir by mixing it with fruit and juices.

She travels to the mother to collect the placenta and uses a piece of about 8cm for each drink.

However, she this week found herself on the wrong side of Swindon Borough Council after it applied for a "hygiene emergency prohibition order" to stop her.

The order was refused but Miss Beale has now voluntarily stopped making smoothies, pending a visit from health officials to inspect hygiene standards.

"I understand that they have to make sure that all food business are running safely," she said.

"I think they have been a bit overzealous in trying to shut me down without doing a full inspection. I believe that I do it safely."

Other services she offers include drying out the remaining placenta before grinding it down into powder and making it into capsules, which can be swallowed later.

The standard encapsulation service costs £150 while she charges an extra £20 for the smoothie and £60 for a heart-shaped umbilical cord keepsake set in resin.

She added: "I do about two a month and nationwide there is another 50 or so encapsulators offering similar services to myself.

"I have been doing it two years but certainly since I have been doing it has been quite popular.

"There is no eating of anyone else's placenta. It is all quite tightly controlled, stored properly and chilled.

"Everything has to be cleaned and sterilised and there is quite strict hygiene involved.

"I only prepare placenta smoothies when I am with the mother in her home or at her private hospital room because she needs to drink it straight away."

A Swindon Borough Council spokeswoman said: "We can confirm public protection officers attended court on March 10 seeking a hygiene emergency prohibition order in respect of raw human placenta practices.

"The order was not granted on this occasion. Our investigations continue and we are therefore unable to comment further at this stage.

"Whilst the health benefits of this activity are not clear, the processes involved in the production of human placenta for human consumption present a number of potentially serious health risks which explains this action."