A mother who left the umbilical cord attached to her newborn for five days has had to deal with some critics.
Vanessa Fisher decided to try a so-called “lotus birth” for their second child.
Fisher had her first birth in a hospital and decided she wanted a different experience this time around.
The unusual lotus method has parents not cutting the cord, instead leaving it attached until it breaks off naturally.
Some experts warn against the procedure, saying there is a higher risk of infection.
But Fisher said that she researched it before doing it.
“Their arguments included the placenta is definitely unattractive and the placenta being attached would require that they be even more careful with the baby.”
To reduce the risk of infection, the mother and father washed the baby and covered it with herbs including lavender and rosemary.
“In the days following his birth, Ashton’s cord became very dry and brittle like a twig. On day five the cord snapped,” Fisher said. “The placenta was separate and a portion of the cord remained connected to the navel. On day nine the remaining piece of the cord detached from the navel. The process was successful. It didn’t cause any infection or discomfort to the baby.”
“In my mind, I imagine the baby spending 10 months in utero only knowing his mother giving him life, his placenta offering him nourishment, and the umbilical cord connecting him to both,” she says. “After birth, the baby normally is taken from the womb and separated from his cord and placenta—a series of events that I imagine could be emotionally traumatic for baby. A gradual separation from the umbilical cord and placenta seems more emotionally considerate of baby.”