As I understand it, a full lotus birth is when you do not cut the cord, period. You let it dry up and separate on its own, which takes about 3-4 days (as opposed to the 2 weeks it takes for a cut cord stump to fall off). My midwife is very much in favor of leaving the cord attached as long as possible, and does not cut a cord in less than 24 hours unless it is truly interfering with the safety and well being of the baby, or is so weak that it breaks on its own (rare, but has happened). Even when she does cut the cord after 24 hours, she cuts it past the point where it has dried up so there is no clamping involved. There isn't much literature on it, but what there is is very intriguing and we have decided to give it a go. To me, it just makes so much sense on an instinctive level that I have a hard time understanding why we ever started cutting cords in the first place. The advantages I have read range from facilitating bonding to reducing childhood leukemia. Even the "disadvantage" of inconvenience (ie, having to deal with the placenta as well as the baby) can be considered and advantage when you consider that it forces mom to be 100% mentally present with baby for those first few days. Hopefully someone will have some actual studies they can reference regarding these things.
