This is where a mother choses not to cut the umbilical cord
following the birth, and instead, allows the cord to dry out and fall
off naturally (as it would in the case of the small stump that is left
when the cord has been severed). This means that both the cord and
placenta will remain attached to the child until it falls away
naturally.
For people who are not familiar with
this idea, the initial reaction will be one of slight shock and perhaps
some disgust as they immeadiately assume that it will involve nasty
smells. This is simply not the case, and there are various methods
which one can use in order to care for the cord following the birth.
Common
practise, backed up by the portrayal of birth in the media, has lead
many to assume that the umbilical cord must immediately be cut and tied
off following the birth of a baby. It is interesting to note that the
advice given to people who have given birth without medical assistance,
and this is unplanned, that they should NOT cut the cord; the reason
being, that it is very likely to introduce infection and that leaving
the cord intact poses no risk to mother or baby (under most
circumstances).
Further to this, the practise of
cutting the cord after the birth of a baby is one of those things that
is done by most doctors simply because "it's they way they have always
done it" instead of being based on any kind of scientific study which
showed it to be necessary.
The benefits of a
Lotus Birth are very similar to those achieved through delaying the
cutting of the cord - things such as the baby receiving it's full blood
supply which is still retained in the placenta following the birth.
For more indepth information, the following resources are recommended:
Lotus Birth, A Ritual for our times by Sarah Buckley, MD
This section of the website contains information on different ways of giving birth, including information from magazines and videos.
