The birth of a child is one of the most celebrated times in a parent’s life. It is also a time when parents need to make some big decisions.
There are going to be some options available for any parent, but Nick and Vanessa Fisher did something that most people had never heard of before. Their newborn baby, who looks absolutely perfect, also has a placenta bag.
This Texas mother wanted to do everything for the birth of her second child that she missed out on when she gave birth to her first child. She decided not to go to the hospital, even though the baby was several weeks late.
She said: “In the birthing classes I had taken, I was told to ‘listen to your body,’ but in labor I was unable to do so; I felt confined to my hospital bed. When I was ready to push, I informed my nurse, who insisted that I wasn’t. I felt uncomfortable and disregarded. But what I learned that day was that the hospital didn’t offer me anything that I couldn’t provide for myself in another setting.”
Vanessa and her husband, Nick, decided that a Lotus birth would be better for Ashton, their second baby. A Lotus is when the parents decide the umbilical cord will not be cut. It remains attached to the placenta until it naturally falls off.
“I found that there were mothers who left the cord attached for several minutes or hours after birth to allow for the placenta to stop pulsating. This would ensure that there was time for a full placental blood transfer to baby. Taking that idea a step further was the lotus birth. The idea really resonated with me because I was already set on embracing a very natural approach to this pregnancy, and cutting out any unnecessary medical interference was important to me.”
Vanessa was happy to add this to the birth plan but Nick was not on board at first.
She said: “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. 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.”
The family would have to treat the un-severed umbilical cord the same way that a severed one would be treated. The difference is, that the placenta is still attached.
Vanessa said: “I believe that in the time that the cord is naturally detaching and the placenta is completing its job providing nutrients and blood to baby, [the] baby has time to establish a new bond and dependency on the father.”
It was four days later and Ashton’s umbilical cord had not yet fallen off. The placenta bag is carried with Ashton anywhere they go. Fortunately, it doesn’t require much care.
“Keeping the placenta and cord attached hasn’t been hard. It has been a bit more maintenance but well worth it for my child’s well-being.
“Outside of the initial washing, drying, and curing of the placenta, there isn’t much maintenance required. As for the part of the cord that’s attached to the naval, the same care is needed as would be if it were cut. Swaddling becomes more difficult as it dries because the cord begins to harden. Again, all of these nuisances are very trivial in the larger scheme of things.”
The midwives also recommend that parents wait 10 days before Ashton is washed. That helps them to keep the placenta dry. Everything else is done as usual.
When Ashton was born, the placenta was washed with water from an herbal bath given to Vanessa. The placenta was then covered with herbs, including yarrow, witch-hazel, lavender, and rosemary as well as sea salt to cure it.
“The herbs masked any odor. But make sure you like the smell of the herbs you choose because my husband didn’t,” she joked.
She does admit: “The placenta is definitely unattractive. The placenta being attached requires that they be even more careful with the baby. My son decided he wouldn’t even hold the baby until the placenta was done away with.”
Vanessa also got some negative feedback from her family but she thinks that is because it is an unfamiliar issue to many. She said: “I didn’t find anyone’s objections valid enough to reconsider my decision.
“Unorthodox is difficult for people to conceptualize. Whether the cord is cut or not, it detaches naturally. An old saying, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ comes to mind when I think of this. There was absolutely no flaw in the way that God designed any part of the process from conception, to delivery, to breastfeeding — all of it was beautifully orchestrated.”
In the end, she is happy that she made the choice and that is what really matters. The baby is happy and safe and the family is doing well.
