The placenta, which produces pregnancy related hormones, plays an important role in transferring blood, nutrients and oxygen from the mother to the fetus. Its role normally gets over after the baby is out of the womb.
However, according to a new concept, placenta can protect babies even after birth. The new practice known as "Lotus Birth" or "Umbilical Nonseverance" allows the placenta to remain attached to the baby until it comes off naturally, i.e. between three to 10 days, The New York Post reported.
According to Mary Ceallaigh, a Lotus Birth advocate and Midwife educator, the procedure is good for the baby and protects it from infections and provides the essential nutrition needed for the initial days after birth.
"There's no wound created at the umbilical site, which lessens the chance of infection," Ceallaigh, who has to her credit 100 natural births, told The New York Post. "It allows a complete transfer of placental/cord blood into the baby at a time when the baby needs that nourishment the most. Babies' immune systems are going through huge changes at a very rapid rate when they're first born. Not disrupting the baby's blood volume at that time helps prevent future disease."
Managing a baby with placenta attached to it is not as difficult as it appears to be. The placenta can be kept in a cloth or container and silk or cotton ribbon can be used to wrap the cord.
"If the placenta has air circulating around it like through cloth, there's no odor for the first day," Ceallaigh told The Post. "There's a slight musky smell the second and third day."
Apart from that, after the cord falls off naturally, mothers who wish to keep the placenta can preserve it through a herbal or salt treatment.
Ceallaigh is not the only person who advocates delaying the clamping procedure of umbilical cord. According to Dr. James Van Hook, director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, keeping the umbilical cord attached to the newborn for a few minutes after birth can help the baby in receiving the blood cells rich in stem cells and immunoglobulin, ABC News reported.
