When we decided to ask ourselves how we humans did things in ancient times, we not only look at the members of the tribes that still live outside the western world, but also on the animals that most resemble us, such as chimpanzees or orangutans, which after giving birth they allow the placenta and the young to remain united until they separate spontaneously.
It is what is known as lotus birth; an increasingly frequent practice among those couples who prefer that the separation of their baby to the placenta be natural, when the time is right, and not through a cut that they consider to arrive early. To talk about this practice, and to illustrate it, I bring you ten amazing images of lotus births that we have seen in Babyology.
What are the benefits of the birth lotus?
A shared publication of RDS (@rizkadwisept) on May 11, 2017 at 5:47 p.m. PDT
Although there is no evidence that carrying out a lotus birth is positive for the baby, advocates of this practice suggest that in childbirth the woman gives birth to a baby and her placenta, which were formed at the same time, sharing the burden genetics and forming a whole that reaches the world in this way, united as it has been throughout pregnancy.
A shared post by Veronika Robinson (@ veronika.robinson) on Mar 10, 2017 at 8:35 AM PST
When the cord is not pinched, the baby continues to receive blood after being born, in a practice that It has been recommended for years because of the decreased risk of anemia and because it could be related to social skills and psychomotor development. Now, what is usually said is that the grip is late: once at least three minutes have passed since birth. Another possibility is that the union is respected until the placenta stops beating, and then the pinching is done to proceed to the cut (the placenta stops beating a few minutes before leaving).
A shared post by Monica Eleazar Manzano (@monicamanifests) on Mar 13, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. PDT
And the next thing is to do nothing. Having the baby on the mother until the birth of the placenta occurs and then leaving them together as they reach the world, until they separate spontaneously a few days later (between 3 and 10 days).
Thus, they consider that the baby is still accompanied by his placenta, and thus is subjected to a lower risk of infection by being accompanied by his placenta, and no of the visits that take the babyOften, without asking and without even washing your hands (they even consider that when the cut does not occur there is less risk of bleeding and infection of the cutting area).
A shared publication of Studio Adelle Victoria (@studio_av) on Feb 23, 2017 at 11:29 PST
They also believe that, in doing so, the mother feels that your baby and your placenta are a whole that you should take care of, as if he were still in a phase of childbirth, remaining in that incredible psychological and hormonal limbo of the arrival of a new life. In addition, they consider the cord cut before it separates on its own it can physically and emotionally affect the baby, and that is something that should happen at the time, when the cord is ready to detach.
What are the risks of the birth lotus?
#ipuwhenua by @soultribeink #handmadelovemade #lotusbirth
A shared post by Ginkgo Philippa (@blue_storm) on Apr 30, 2017 at 1:43 p.m. PDT
Although those who defend it say that the placenta does not break down and that the only thing that happens is that its smell intensifies, without being unpleasant, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) of the United Kingdom published a statement a few years ago warning that there was no evidence for or against this practice, because it had not been studied, but that I considered it risky for the degradation of the placenta.
A shared publication of Lale Mert Tuna (@dogum_doula_lale) on Dec 6, 2016 at 10:58 PST
By containing blood and having no circulation, the tissues of the blood begin to die, at the risk of becoming infected. In case the placenta colonizes, that infection could happen to the baby, as they explain. That is why they argue that if someone decides to make a lotus birth, be especially sensitive to this to detect any signs of infection early.
Is it really better for the placenta to be with the baby?
A shared publication of Lale Mert Tuna (@dogum_doula_lale) on Dec 21, 2016 at 6:18 PST
Being of those who think that each couple has to do what they consider best, as long as the baby is not in danger, it only remains to try to answer this question: if it's really better to have the baby next to your placenta.
As we have already mentioned, it is not known: there are no studies that say it is better, nor studies that say that it is worse. Applying the logic, we have a baby who needs a lot of skin-to-skin contact and a placenta with a cord that, when it stops beating, has finished its function, which was to provide the baby with blood loaded with nutrients and oxygen. Of course, the cord is a fabric that cannot "self-destruct" at the end of its function, so it gradually mummifies until it comes off the baby.
A shared post by Krista Evans (@ krista.evans.photography) on May 15, 2017 at 7:46 PDT
And here goes the question: Does the baby notice when the cord is cut? When you are still receiving blood, you may be. It clamps and the flow that was constant disappears suddenly, in a process that is different from if it slowly stops beating. Now, if after a while the placenta stops beating, it cuts, there can be no difference because the cord is not innervated and does not transmit any sensation to the baby. Blood no longer passes, there is no communication, so pinching it can not get any information.
A shared publication of Rain (@spiritual_mama) on Oct 14, 2016 at 12:49 p.m. PDT
If anything, you will lose the smell of your placenta by not having it around. But it is not important because in reality the smell that has to worry him the most is that of his mother, to be linked from the first moment with her, which will be her food, her arms and, in reality, its all.
With regard to the risk of infection and bleeding, it usually occurs at the point where the cord and navel meet, not where it has been pinched and cut, precisely because the clamp prevents anything from the outside from reaching the baby.
A shared publication of ॐ ☯ ॐ (@jah_feel_) on Mar 31, 2017 at 3:30 p.m. PDT
So without being very clear about the benefit of having the placenta with the baby for several days, but respecting whoever wants to do it, I would not do it with my children (As we did not when they were born), basically because to take it and attend it seems more practical to have the baby without a placenta.
