Lotus births

Wow this is so interesting, i cant believe i had never heard of a lotus birth this morning !!

LotusEater it sounds a wonderful way to bond with your baby ??

All that skin-to-skin is never a bad thing and the lying in period is such a wonderful thing to be able to enjoy.

XX

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Was unsuccessful again , but will keep trying !!

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind......Gandhi.

Thanks, it was really quite wonderful experience, even with the raging afterpains and mastitis that I mistook as letdown ( I know, I know, what a div). I haven't spent a single night pacing the floor with her and she pretty much slept and fed.
I've now lent the placenta bag to one of my clients who is expecting her baby soon as my midwife who made me the bag was her midwife for her last baby.

Is this something that was done/performed before clamping began or is it a new age thing? oes anyone know if we have always clamped? x

The cord has always been severed, not necessarily tied or clamped because if cord is allowed to stop pulsating, there is really no need to tie it off.

I wouldn't say it is a new age thing, apparently there is a breed of chimps who do this - leaving the cord unsevered. It really is explained quite well here;
http://www.labouroflove.org/birth/lotus-birth/

" lotus birth is a new ritual for us, having only been described in chimpanzees before 1974, when Clair Lotus Day - pregnant and living in California - began to question the routine cutting of the cord. Her searching led her to an obstetrician who was sympathetic to her
wishes, and her son Trimurti was born in hospital and taken home with his cord uncut. lotus birth was named by, and seeded through Clair to Jeannine Parvati Baker in the US and Shivam Rachana in Australia, who have both been strong advocates for this gentle practice."

I love threads like this because I had never heard of this before and am genuinely interested and want to know more about it.

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Coffeebean xx


Student Midwife

I think that link I gave of mybirth.tv has a video on lotus birth, if you just do a search, it will take you to it.

LE - if there is no good quality research to support this practice and we always want good quality, up to date research when others advocate many other practices eg. Induction or kiwi delivery , are there plans to perform any such research or any in progress?
i have a little concern with regards to infection if the placenta is left to deteriorate espechially in a non-home confinement - i would prefer some researched evidence on this particular point before i am happy to confidently support a woman with this.

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Laugh in the face of the devil Eat Chocolate

I don't see how you would need to clinically support the woman in making the decision. The placenta is hers to do what she wishes - many women who choose a lotus birth would be having a homebirth anyway, I only know of one case personally where the lotus birth happened in a hospital and the midwifery head was quite willing to 'allow' this to take place.My own supervisor who is the head of midwifery of a local hospital has no issues about it, having looked at the information available.

What would be your concern in a non-homebirth environment?

Also, I was thinking about the instances where parents ask to have the placenta to take home with them, I've known placentae staying in the hospital in a bag for the duration of the mother's stay postnatally (this being around 24 hours post birth).

Just wanted to ask whether the salt rub you used for your lotus birth would keep away infection and also the smell at home and in the hospital. Is the salt rub usually used and is it always scented with things like lavender and geranium?

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Coffeebean xx


Student Midwife