A woman who ate her placenta after giving birth wound up spreading a potentially deadly infection to her baby, according to a new report of the case. The mother had paid a company to make pills from her placenta after the birth of her baby, and she began taking these placenta pills three days after the baby was born. The baby was born healthy in September 2016, but started showing signs of respiratory distress soon after birth, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).