Lotus Birth

he spiritual relationship between child and parents is not a notion that finds
discussion in our culture. However, other cultures, mainly indigenous, DO
acknowledge and tend this aspect of human life on earth. An example I particularly
like is from a culture I have heard about where a woman wanting a child spends
time in nature. Through meditative practice she comes to know the song or sound
of the baby who is to incarnate. She teaches this sound to her partner and when
they make love, they make that sound. She teaches her midwives the sound and
they use it during her labour. Whenever the baby is fitful or, in later life, unwell,
that sound is used to soothe and heal. After the person dies the sound is never
used again.

These people know about the interconnectedness of all beings. Just as we know
that each individual has their own unique fingerprint, they know that we also have a
signature sound. The understanding and use of sound for healing is well known
among some peoples; the Tibetans probably being the most well-known of those.

Many indigenous cultures have a strong sense of being part of a continuum. Our
isolated 'me' culture deprives us of this. If we reflect on how most of us were
born - drugged, isolated from our mother and deprived of basic mammalian needs
of access to the breast, skin-to-skin contact and holding - we might begin to
understand more fully the difficulties we have in our interpersonal relationships.

The implications of Lotus Birth are best approached through the perspective of the
ancient mystery traditions, developed in places as diverse as India, China, and
Egypt. Through disciplines of contemplation and meditation, these traditions have
developed an understanding of the totality of a human being that is still absent from
Western medical science. Generally, they articulate dimensions across which
human beings live simultaneously, and how disharmony or trauma in one affects
the others.

To fully understand the implications of Lotus Birth, it is helpful to have an
understanding of the five bodies, which, according to many Eastern teachings,
comprise the totality of our being.

There are vital energies, which are part of all living things, that flow through and
around our bodies. These energies, known as auras, can be seen by some people.
Chinese systems of medicine describe how an energy, known as chi, flows along
meridians throughout the body. It extends beyond the physical body (as we
generally regard it) to form the auric field, or aura, around the body. This auric
field is our interface with other dimensions of subtle energies. A strong auric field
helps to preserve the integrity of the organism.

This understanding of the human being is ancient and worldwide, although not part
of the general Western notion of reality. Quantum physics, however, is leading
scientists to recognise these phenomena as valid.

In time, I am sure, we shall be able too prove that a strong auric field is indicative
of a strong immune system. Holes or damage in the auric field manifest as a weak
immune system. These damaged areas provide the energetic grid from which
many degenerative diseases manifest.

From a wholistic perspective, the practice of Lotus Birth is most logical.

Lotus Birth slows things down. This is most desirable. The time after a birth is to
be savoured. It is like the time after making love, after the climax, a time of
intimacy and integration. A mother who has just birthed her baby, after nine
months of pregnancy, benefits greatly from quiet and rest. The birth experience
requires integration. Time to reflect on things and to be able to talk about it all with
supportive people is most beneficial. The father and other children who may have
been present also appreciate and benefit from this 'between times'.

Lotus Birth provides a unique opportunity after the birth for the family to settle in,
to be together in a very special way. With the placenta still attached, the sense of
being in the space 'between worlds' is very apparent. The baby is here but is still
there. The time of transition from the beyond into the physical plane of existence is
obvious. The first few days see the digestive tract and the elimination system, both
of which are part of placental function, become established in the baby's body.

We may well wonder whether the hectic stress-filled lives many of us lead are a
reflection of our very first hours and days in hospitals - hustle and bustle and the
tyranny of time.

Taking time - 'being' in time - for the first days of life may well be the
panacea for 80% of the diseases from which we suffer which are stress-
related.

The creation of the placenta is one of the most mysterious and ingenious acts of
creation, one about which we actually know very little, even though our very
existence has depended on it.

Six days after the sperm from our father merged with the ovum - which our
mother had carried in her body since she, herself, was developing inside our
grandmother - this tiny six-day old organism (us), about to attach itself to the
uterine wall, undergoes a still not understood process that causes the same genetic
material to go two ways. Some becomes the baby and some the placenta.
Alternatively, we could regard the baby and the placenta as a single unit - with the
placenta an essential organ, such as the heart or liver, functioning and necessary
for survival. However, we don't say, 'some of the genetic material turns into the
baby and some turns into the heart or lungs', so why do we conceptually separate
the placenta from the baby?

Lotus Birth establishes the baby-placenta relationship and suggests that the mother
gives birth to the baby-placenta. As we shall see, there are no sustainable medical
reasons for cutting the cord and separating the biological unit that conceived, grew,
and delivered (or birthed) together.

Current birthing practice is to cut the cord while the placenta is still in the mother.
When this happens, people do not perceive the complete biological unit of
baby-placenta and as a consequence find it difficult to imagine the
biological-historical-genetic-fetal unity of the placenta-baby. As the practice
continues, many mothers never even see their baby's placenta and some think that
the placenta is theirs. Lotus Birth puts the placental ownership clearly with the
baby, where it belongs.

The moment of the baby's 'letting go' of the umbilicus and placenta has its origin at
the moment of implantation of the egg into the uterus. The moment of implantation
heralded, in a most organic way, the beginning of another human life. Twenty-five
percent of conceptions do not reach this stage, because the uterus does not accept
implantation of the egg.

Implantation is a two-way event. It is acceptance by the mother's uterus of the
new life form and a commitment by the fertilised ovum to go to the next stage of
gestation. It is a key point in the mother-child relationship, and in a woman's
relationship with her partner, to accept into her deep and sacred place the product
of their union...

For the baby implantation is a major step in its commitment to incarnation.
Embodiment will mean reliance on the ongoing supply of nutrients from the
placenta via the umbilicus. This is now fetus's life-line, on which he or she is
dependent. The new being becomes open to receiving nourishment from this
source.

At the earliest stages of development - just six days gestation - an estimated 30,000
different proteins have been identified in the embryonic human!

The placenta is most complex, not the simple anchor for the cord or the
passive sieve through which nutrients pass from mother to fetus, as many
think. It has its own metabolism, which regulates maternal functions by
producing hormones actively and selectively transferring substances between
mother and baby and keeping equilibrium between the two, while keeping fetal and
maternal blood circulation separate - it is an organ of high intelligence. Its
function begins after implantation - that crucial point when, by forming burrowing
projections, the baby attaches to the lining of the uterus.

This stage is a significant one. The mother's womb accepts the baby and the baby
commits to the gestation. It is most intimate, most personal, and the
disengagement at birth, nine months later, is connected to this point. It is a
commitment and a release, and may have the most profound ramifications in the
mother-child relationship. Here is the organic foundation of this primal relationship.

The placenta establishes itself during the first ten weeks of pregnancy and by three
months it is fully mature. It feeds nutrients to the baby via the umbilical cord
and carries away and processes waste products. It provides a two-way exchange
through the three large arteries of the umbilical cord.

There are sound physical reasons for not cutting the cord, which have to do with
the blood value and volume that the baby would otherwise miss out on. The baby's
emotional life and implications for its future relationships are further factors.
Beyond that, there is the etheric level and the transference of energies.

Lotus Birth ensures that the physical body is well cared for by ensuring that the
baby receives the full quotient of the oxygen-bearing highly nutritious blood that is
in the cord. The infant obtains 40-60 mL of 'extra' blood from the placenta if the
cord is not tied until pulsations cease. The loss of 30 mL oof blood to the newborn
is equivalent to the loss of 600 mL to an adult. Persistent common practice of
immediate cutting of the cord before the pulsations cease deprives the newborn of
a possible 60 mL of blood, the equivalent of a 1200 mL hemorrhage in an adult.
This is a likely explanation of the strange phenomenon of weight loss that most
newborns seem to endure. The new organism is put immediately under undue
stress to reproduce the blood it was denied.

We must wonder, too, whether the denial of the iron-rich cord blood is a
contributing factor to widespread cases of infant and childhood anemia.

The immature liver is supported by the placenta in the offloading of toxins, as the
pumping action continues until the cessation of pulsations. Most babies' bodies are
loaded up with these, including any drugs administered during the birth, and have to
begin life dealing with the unnecessary toxic waste in their immature systems.

The emotional body is nourished by a lack of stress on the new organism. It
enjoys the ongoing support of the placenta, which allows the flow of oxytocin (the
love hormone), as opposed to adrenaline, which is generated by the fear-or-survival
mechanism.

This allows the baby the primal imprint of happiness and bliss as it takes in its first
sights, sounds, smells and tastes.

Once the cord is emptied of blood we have a beautiful flat silvery ribbon: however,
its function continues. Transference from the placenta is still occurring. Life
force still in the placenta is transferred to the baby. This transference continues
until the baby's auric field is complete. During this time, which can take three to
seven days, the cord becomes brown and brittle. At the point of auric completion
the cord simply comes away at the navel - the conscious child is "Lotus Born".

Care of the Baby's Lotus Placenta

~ Wait for the placenta to be born naturally without any injection of oxytoxic
drugs, no immediate cord clamping, and without cord traction (request "passive
management" of healthy third stage from your midwife or obstetrician - this must
be communicated before birth and in your birth goals paperwork). Detachment of
the placental membranes actually begins in the First Stage of labor, when separation
occurs around the internal cervical os.

Natural birth of the placenta is a crucial part of the mother-baby health that is
often overlooked by expectant parents. Third Stage, though painless, is the most
hazardous part of labor for the mother, and requires intention and care towards
mother so that she can successfully focus on completing the birth while also
rejoicing with her baby. Third Stage of labor can take just a few minutes to up to a
half hour or more for first time birthing women (primaparas). Third Stage often
flows better if a woman spends a large portion of her active labor in an upright
position, and if a squat position (the standing supported full release squat or using
a frontal support) is taken for the birth of the baby, the placenta is effortlessly born
in the next contraction that follows.

~ After the birth of the placenta, it can be placed in a bowl near the mother-baby.
It is important to keep the placenta level with the baby after birth until the
gelatinous substance (called "Wharton's Jelly" in obstetrics) has solidified, hence no
more blood transfusion is occurring. This happens several minutes after the cord
stops pulsisng. When ready, use a colander to drain off any excess blood. Using a
pitcher of warm water, gently rinse the placenta, taking care to remove any blood
clots ( as they will decay quickly) and pat dry.

Place the placenta into the special bowl you have chosen for keeping the placenta.
Often a ceramic bowl is used. You can leave the placenta in a bowl near the
mother-baby until the cord separates, or you can wrap it in a special cloth. Cloth
wrapping allows you to place the placenta right next to the baby, and makes it
easier for a woman to walk around a bit with the baby in-arms.

~ It is important that the placenta is not wrapped or covered in plastic, as if it is not
allowed to "breathe" it will become smelly.

~ You can salt the placenta on both sides in order to preserve it better. How much
salt is up to you. Not everyone chooses to salt the placenta- and if you will be
using it to plant a tree over, the less salt the better. Essential oils of Basil,
Frankincense, Myrrh, Lavender, or Rosemary can also be applied for preservation,
as well as powdered Goldenseal, Turmeric, or Tulsi. Application of salt and/or
herbs can be repeated each day for a few days, depending on how quickly the
placenta dries out.

~ In most cases, the placental cord will dry and separate from the baby's navel
within 2 1/2 days to seven days.

~ The dried placenta can be further prepared (powdered and encapsulated) for
postpartum nutritional Chinese medicine, esteemed for its hormonal properties
which are in unique proportion for each placenta. The new quantum medicine
view would consider the medicinal properties transferred via intention rather than
ingestion, by the mother simply keeping the placenta near her, or at her mediation
place, holding an attunement for the first 40 Days postpartum.

~ After the first 40 Days, the dried placenta can be buried underneath a special old
tree or as a base for a new planting of a family tree or flower bush. It is an
excellent fertilizer, needless to say!

See the article "Common Questions about Lotus Birth" on this site
for further explorations of Lotus Birth scenarios.

There are several other articles on this topic in the Lotus Fertility Library.

***If you have a Lotus Birth, you are encouraged to take some beautiful photos
and create an informational webpage for the world - as there are few if any photo
montages that convey the sacred imagery of Lotus Birth. If you would like to offer
photos to grace Lotus Fertility's pages, please contact Mary, thank you!