A first-time mom has shared why she chose to keep her newborn attached to the placenta until it eventually broke away five days after birth.
Michelle Louise, 36, decided to embrace a Lotus birth, where the umbilical cord is not clamped or cut at birth and instead continues to pump nutrients to the baby outside of the womb until the organ dies.
The 36-year-old mom and mental health nurse welcomed her son last month in September and explained why she opted for a non-traditional birth by not cutting the cord and removing the placenta.
Michelle and her partner, Edward, 34, preserved the placenta with herbs and salts and allowed it to continue feeding their son and pumping nutrients into his body until the cord naturally separated from his belly button.
Michelle explains: “For us, the experience was a more gentle way for our son to transition into the world and gently unfold to earth side.”
“There are a lot of health benefits too and we wanted all the nourishment and blood to go to Otter.”
“Throughout my pregnancy, I became more involved with the placenta, its power and its importance to our babe’s life.”
“Spiritually for us, it didn’t feel right to cut the cord and detach the babe from the organ, we wanted this to happen naturally.”
Michelle, who is a clinical nurse aromatherapist works and a mental health nurse for the elderly, researched various uses for the placenta but decided that keeping it attached to her newborn son was the best thing to do.
She said: “I first heard about Lotus birthing from someone who had their placenta encapsulated.”
“There are many options that moms can consider to get the full potential, including freezing it and having it turned into pills.”
Michelle added: “Spiritually for me, it wasn’t the right thing to ingest it.”
“It had been growing with the baby and had become their best friend so we chose a full Lotus birth.”
“I read a book called Placenta – The forgotten chakra, by Robin Lim and it gave me so much information.”
A Lotus birth is known medically as umbilical non-severance and on average, it can take 3-10 days for the umbilical cord to disconnect naturally from the infant.
Michelle explained that it was super easy to adapt to looking after her newborn son with the cord and placenta still attached.
The couple said they used Himalayan salt, Thyme and then dried it with some home-grown lavender to preserve the placenta.
Michelle added that as long as it is cleaned and dried there are no concerns over infection.
She also used a pillowcase to keep the placenta protected and keep any odors at bay.
Although Michelle said that by cleaning it every day and rubbing her dried herbs on it means it doesn’t tend to have a smell.
When Otter was five days old, the placenta naturally separated from him and the couple decided on a ritual burial and ceremony.
Michelle added: “There are lots of traditions with the placenta. We decided on a gratitude blessing.”
“She (the placenta) became known as babe’s best friend Alice.”
“We gave thanks to Alice for her life, and for giving Otter everything he needed in the womb and we planted her (Alice) in our grandmother’s Acer Tree.”
“Our intention was to give thanks back to Mother Earth for this journey and to tie Edward’s Grandma and babe together in spirit.
“We still have the cord and I’d like to do some art work with it.”
Michelle and her partner have been together for two years and live a natural lifestyle. They wanted her pregnancy, labor and post-partum decisions to reflect that.
The couple decided on a water birth at their home, with no medical intervention.
Michelle said: “My pregnancy and Otter’s birth was very self-guided, we wanted to come away from the medical journey of a pregnancy.”
Michelle’s pregnancy was low risk and the couple did go for scans but opted out of any screening tests.
Michelle said: “We invested in a Doula, Yogi Oli for a non-medical and spiritual experience.
“Through her we learnt pain management techniques, breath work, fear release and a huge amount of trust for mine and my babe’s bodies to do this together.
“I spent a lot of time visualizing my birth and creating positive affirmations.”
Michelle added: “A midwife was at our home but stayed in the kitchen, she did an examination and allowed us to continue to have a very hands-off birth.”
“Birthing at home and free of invasive procedures and treatments has been an exceptionally empowering and beautiful experience.”
“People have concerns over a home birth for a first baby but I want to encourage moms to be to explore and discuss their choices.”
“I want to empower women, to encourage first-time moms to trust in their natural capability and to learn what their rights are for their labor.”
“You can have the birth you want, we have choices and there are many variations of normal.”
“If you do your research, people should respect that.”
“A Lotus birth was a beautiful, spiritual experience and the best start in life for our little boy.”
