If you’ve never heard of Lotus Birth before, you aren’t alone. But you may now come across the idea throughout your pregnancy. Lotus Birth is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after the third stage of labour so that the baby remains attached to both cord and placenta until they naturally separate from the umbilicus. I learned a lot about Lotus Birth from Sam Pearson, and her article is linked at the bottom. With her permission I would like to quote a few paragraphs Ms. Pearson wrote on her own experiences with Lotus birth, to share why she chose to do it:
My third baby was lotus born and we are planning another lotus birth with our next baby. We still have the placenta. It is completely preserved and quite small and light now. My daughter is almost 3 years old and we keep her placenta in a special box and she asks us to get it down for her often. She knows what it is and loves it. The plan was to bury it as we did her older sister’s placenta but she seems really attached to it so we will let her decide what to do with it herself. I was asking (my daughter) if she would like to bury (her placenta) and told her that if she wanted we could have a special ceremony and buy a special tree to plant above it. She said she doesn’t want to because then she couldn’t look at it and touch it.
It appears that Lotus-born babies can grow very attached (no pun intended) to their placentas. It is true that the placenta is what sustains babies for their entire stay in the womb, and therefore is a very important and meaningful organ. Many women do not desire to have anything to do with the placenta after it is delivered. In the hospital, it is routinely taken and examined, then sometimes used for scientific research or stem cells. I assume that somewhere in the paperwork of hospital childbirth it asks for a signature in order to legally use the placenta for these things. Otherwise, the organ is disposed of. I’ve never heard of a woman taking her placenta home from the hospital, but many homebirthers I know will save their placentas to use for various reasons (mentioned below).
Then we were talking about how we won’t cut our new baby’s cord but let it come off on its own as well. My eldest daughter, who is six, said that’s just like her wobbly tooth which has been hanging in there for ages loose but still attached. She said wouldn’t like it if we pulled it out by force because it’s going to come out on its own and she’d rather wait.
Truly wise to say for a six year old, if you ask me!
The reality (is) that the cord was completely dry and brittle like beef jerky after 24 hours and once the placenta was strained, rinsed and pat dried the preservation process was very quick. It wasn’t gross as I feared. My son was nine when his baby sister was born and was really against it. But he ended up being more interested in her drying placenta than any of us and he took on the task of re-salting and rewrapping her placenta every day.
Even if you did not have a Lotus Birth, you can do several things with the placenta aside from discarding it. It is not uncommon in some ancient cultures to actually eat the placenta, which helps the uterus shrink to normal size and provides much-needed nutrition for after delivery. The placenta can be dried and made into a tea, or cooked and eaten with another food, or even mixed in a smoothie. It is also common practice to bury the placenta in the backyard, perhaps under a new bush or tree. The placenta will fertilize the new plant, thus continuing to bring forth life. My second daughter was born in a Michigan October, so we put our placenta in a deep freezer and will “plant” it come spring. Another thing you could do is “placenta art”. Take the placenta and press it into some paint, and then press it onto a sheet of paper like you would a stamp. This will reveal the beautiful, tree-like veins throughout the organ, and create a peice of artwork to be used in the nursery.
In the specific case of Lotus Birth there are no problems with letting nature take it’s course and the benefits to cutting the cord are all for the convenience of the parents, not for the baby’s benefit. Once the placenta stops functioning – once it stops pulsing completely and there is no longer any exchange of fluids – there is not physiological benefit for the baby in being attached to his/her placenta. The optimum physical benefit is achieved through not cutting and clamping the cord too early. The rest is spiritual and practical. With a lotus baby you are never reminded how young they are because you (can) never forget – the evidence is right before you – we kept our’s naked and you couldn’t ignore that she was still intact. The vibe in our house while her cord was still attached was like that first hour after birth was extended for four days – through her lotus birth we were able to hold that sacred birth space for longer. Until her cord came away I also remained naked with constant skin-on-skin.
I highly recommend reading the entire article by Sam Pearson: Lotus Birth. In her article, she further explains the history and meaning behind Lotus Birth. She also touches on cord clamping and delayed cutting of the cord, something parents may consider after delivery if they aren’t comfortable with a full Lotus Birth.
Now that you know the reasons behind why some people may consider it, how do you feel about Lotus Birth? Has reading these comments changed your mind about it or helped you understand it better?
Also see The Let’s Talk Blog Top Ten – Reasons for a Homebirth
and Let’s Talk About Your Homebirth Supply List for more homebirth options.