salting the placenta for lotus birth and a few more q's

[CrunchyGranolaMom]

Hi all,
Can't seem to find the answer to this in the archives here: Are there any potential health risks to baby from salting the placenta for a lotus birth? Alternatively, has anyone just left the placenta alone and not sprinkled with salt, rosemary, etc?

Few more LB questions:
--how long do you have to let it drain after birthing? Did you just put the strainer and bowl on the bed with you and the baby?

--cloth or disposable for the placenta to go in? We use cloth on the baby, but if there is going to be leakage, then I'm cool with disp. for the placenta (unless this will make it take longer to dry out....Do you normally leave it open for some parts of the day?)

My totally wonderful, yet very squeamish husband would like to ask if anyone has advice about "how to make this not gross in the beginning?" (that's what I get for asking him if he has any questions, right?! Seriously, though, he was fine about it when I first brought the subject up, but now that the due date is nearer, he is getting a bit freaked out, despite [or perhaps from] all the websites, etc. I've shown him).

Thanks for the help!

[indigolilybear]

i don't know of any health risks for the baby...the blood doesn't flow back to the baby from the placenta to my understanding so i don't see how it could be but you never know. we DID sprinkle w/sea salt but again to my understanding is only to speed the drying process so i don't think it would be necessary if you didn't want to do it. it might depend more on your humidity level of your area etc. you may also "motheroast" meaning you turn the heat way up in the house and everyone can go naked. it must be very warm however for the newborn to be naked.

--how long do you have to let it drain after birthing? Did you just put the strainer and bowl on the bed with you and the baby?

you wait for the whorton's jelly on the placenta to dry then you gently wash it off in hte sink. i don't remember exactly how long we let it drain...maybe an hour or two...but not cuz we waited for some time limit but because that's wehn we were ready to deal w/it. we did just put the baby and strainer in bed w/us.

--cloth or disposable for the placenta to go in? We use cloth on the baby, but if there is going to be leakage, then I'm cool with disp. for the placenta (unless this will make it take longer to dry out....Do you normally leave it open for some parts of the day?)

we too used cloth on baby but we chose to use a disposable depends like undergarment cuz we had extras from the bag we bought for me. we didn't have any disposable dipes on hand. you can use cloth. from my foggy memory, i believe it's only the first day that it actually drains much. i think it slows down significantly after that. i doubt it would make it take longer to dry though. if DH is squeamish, maybe a disposable pad of some sort (chux, dipe or depends) would be best. and yes, we left it open all the time i think. (gosh, it's hard to remember!! LOL) our dried pretty fast, it was may in a fairly arid setting.

not sure what dh means by not making it gross....totally not trying to be judgemental BTW, i think once you've been through the birth transition and stuff, your normal sense of "gross"might change. KWIM? IME, there was no smell, and really no grossness. and yes, maybe stop showing him "other people's" placenta's cuz if you're squeamish, it's probably kind of weird since you dont' normally see this kind of thing. your own, as with most things like baby poop, etc, is TOTALLY different. maybe it would help to remind him of some of the reasons that LOGICALLY

it is just our own cultural training that creates these beliefs like that we are not comfortable w/dying, aging, the body, etc.? it helped me to know that going through this process had some purpose and would help me get comfortable w/these things that i logically know aren't bad. and also, you may find that the idea (as in our case) of cutting the cord, after not cutting it, is actually kind of weird and negative. this process really changed us. yes, lotus birth had it's challenges....sometimes when the cord got stiff he would pull on it ,etc and i got very impatient and worried by the end. BUT I am soo grateful we did this, as i really slowed down and was present for his first days, our family did grow a lot & learned a lot about ourselves and ingrained beliefs because of this process. really, it does pay off!! and ds is such a gentle special little spirit (of course not ALL because of lotus birth) but i do feel it did make a difference and was very instructive for us.

and even right afterwards, we realized, we dont' think we could ever cut another cord again. KWIM?
anyway, there's my novel. hope this helps and please, Let us know how it goes!! here's wishes for a peaceful, empowering birth!

[lovinmama]

Hey!
After I gave birth it was a couple hours before I did anything with the placenta, when I did a couple hours later, I just took it from the bowl it was in, laid it on a diaper (cloth) wiped it gently and laid it onto another diaper (cloth) wrapped both sides of that like folding a peice of paper and turned it over onto another diaper and wrapped the other side the same way, then I took a peice of twine a wrapped it so the diapers would not come undone. If I needed to move or get up, I could just grab it under the twine and go....it really was simple. I changed the diapers once a day and that was it. His cord separated on day 3. I decided that I was not really into salting it, but on day 2 I sprinkled some herbs from my mothers garden on it.
My husband is REALLY squeamish, ( I have to give it to him, he did clean out the birth tub!) It was really really hard for him though. He has even passed out on me before! Anyway..I was the one that changed the diaper but it just took a minute or two, was not messy, and there was really nothing to it. He is very proud of the lotus birth, I love overhearing him talking to some of him mainstream family about it on the phone, I can just imagine what they are thinking!

[lovinmama]

Oh I just wanted to say that IMO I dont think there would be any health risks at all to the baby by salting it!!! I just can not see how it could possibly cause complications. I have a few friends that have salted with no problem.
Racheal

[CrunchyGranolaMom]

Wow, those were SUCH helpful comments. Thanks, ladies! I'm usually okay about winging things, but I really want this to be "easy" for dh and for myself (like no running out to CVS at midnight while in labor to get a strainer!), so I want to be prepared.

(p.s. here's what dh says about why he's squeamish: "Do you remember what this thing looks like?! It's HUGE! And it looks like a big piece of liver! [we're very longterm vegetarians] And how will we shlep that thing around with our little baby?!" It always ends with "I'll go with whatever you want on this, honey" (whadda sweetie. Either that or he's justly frightened of an extremely hormonal very pregnant woman...), but I DO want to make this as easy as possible for him and us.

I really appreciate the time you both took to answer!

[indigolilybear]

oh, do you have the jeannine parvati baker book on it? i know there is also another recent book about it, that i assume has directions in it. anyway, all we did was follow the directions (and our intuition) on this. anyway, if you want to check it out at www.freestone.org she might be able to rush it to you before the birth.
just a thought.

also, some people make beautiful placenta bags too. i think i might do this next time! (which won't be for a LONG Ttime most likely! LOL)
again, best wishes.

[BowenTherapist]

lovinglife,
It seems as though we are in the same situation. I'm glad you asked the question and I'm glad for the helpful responces. My husband is also kinda squeemish about things.

Indigolily bear, do you think that haveing the book is that important... I'm due this weekend The only info I have on this is what Ive gotten from the boards. But it seems like it's enough.

[indigolilybear]

no i don't think it's that important. you'll figure it out and yes, most of the info has been posted. especially if you're due this weekend!!
i mean, it IS a great thing to have but definitely not necessary.

i just liked having it there to refresh our (shaken up!) memory! KWIM? it's pretty simple and really, there's no RIGHT way but l'm so anal that i wanted to follow directions the first time especially since we did a freebirth and there was no one there to help with it.

smooth birthing vibes to you , gentle mothers!

[greensmile]

our beautiful lotus birth

Our fifth boy was born 9/29 at home. I delivered the placenta into an enamel bed pan. After we examined it and photoed the"tree of life", (usually we make a print) as we had already rinsed it in a bowl next to the pan (whoops), we salted and sprinkled herbs on it. Then we replaced it into the bed pan wrapped in a recieving blanket. After a day the blanket was moist so we replaced it with a fresh one and added more salt and herbs. That stayed dry and fresh until the last day when there was a slight odor. I sprayed the blanket with lavender oil. The whole time it was resting in the pan. It was easy to pick up the pan and baby and move to the changing table or out to the sun in the yard (all we really did that first week). The cord detached on the seventh day at his exact birthtime pus twelve hours. He cried briefly. It truly was a second birth. I was thinking about how it had felt to slice through my second son's cord while baby was sleeping next to me and he burst out crying! First son was a lotus birth, but I felt the need to eat the second and made it into medicine. I would always choose a lotus birth unless the mother's health warrented otherwise. Happy Birthing all!

[CrunchyGranolaMom]

Thank you for the input, Greensmile!

Did any of you find it hard to snuggle your baby b/c of the LB? With our other two, we really liked to snuggle the baby on our chest, but, in thinking about it, I'm not quite sure where the cord and placenta would be if we do this?! I know that having a LB can be a nice time to just snuggle in bed for a few days, but I just don't see that happening too easily....

Also, any thoughts on clothes? We live in the Northeast and it's getting darn cold up here (and baby's not due for a few more weeks yet). Our heat is forced hot air, so it's kind of unpleasant to crank it up. Can I just put the little sweetie in a snap-up outfit and not snap the closures around the navel area?

Thank you all for your help!!!!!

[indigolilybear]

hi,
yes, it was more tricky for us to snuggle w/babe on chest BUT this was only for 4 days in our case. And I felt like I snuggled MORE in general because it forced us to slow down as I've mentioned. Yes, it is trickier to manage....but IMO that is part of the "gift" of LB.

as for clothes, you can put them in the same things that you do to take care of the newborn stub for the most part....we used tee-shirts and pants I believe but it wasn't nearly as cold (may in SoCal). You can also thread the cord through clothes too I believe. You'll figure it out....I don't have much input as our ds was in warmer climate and was half nude all the time. LOL.

sounds like you're getting the jitters about this a little bit? Is this so? Just curious....I got so antsy about everythig towards the end. good luck

[CrunchyGranolaMom]

You are very perceptive!!!!! I feel like I just can't wrap my head around all the little details of exactly what this will be like, and, while it's lovely that my husband is leaving it up to me, it's also a little stressful. Of course, if I wasn't making myself nuts about the details of a LB, I could be focusing on other, more stressful things, right? Like our total lack of space in this teeny apartment, potential adjustment issues of our other kids, how our homeschooling will be affected, blah, blah, blah!!!!!!

Thanks for listening

[indigolilybear]

LOL! that's what it *seemed* like, but i didn't want to be presumptous.....
while I cant guarantee obviously that you will love LB'ing, I can tell you that it was really pretty simple....other than the fact that after his cord dried a little, he would accidentally pull on it w/his feet which was stressful. Yes, logistically, it was kind of tricky carrying around the bowl etc. but what i'd advise (since you *didn't* ask! LOL) is to not worry about it and go w/the flow. Really, it's only a few days.

I guess I'd just get real quiet and ask myself how I felt about it either way....are you relieved when thinking about *not*doing it? or do you feel not quite right? I guess what I"m saying is, yes, it's not that hard and yes, it's a little extra work but really, you just need to come to terms w/how you *truly* feel about it, KWIM? I personally would've felt disappointed in myself if we hadn't done it....but really, if you've already kind of decided to do it, you might find you can't cut the cord even if you change your mind.....or like a friend of mine who had chosen beforehand to *do* it, she ended up cutting hte cord after several hours w/it attached.

Just make sure you make the right decidsion for you and your family, but don't get too nervous just because of end-of-preg. jitters!! You'll make the right choice! good luck. and feel free to PM if you want!

[MysticHealerMom]

One site I read said you could wrap the placenta/cord in another diaper and then wrap it into the diaper so it doesn't dangle or get cold and clamy. And it said to salt and sprinkle herbs on it every day.

http://www.geocities.com/tragicpixie/MFlotus.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/debbiemom/lotusbirth.html

Cheers,

[greensmile]

We used diaper wraps w/ cutouts (dips) for the navel, (handy regardless) and kimonos. EcoBaby has nice organic cotton ones. Often I would add footed pants and a tee or long sleeve under shirt. I didn't find it interfered w/ cuddling, just the opposite, I spent the week in bed holding him! The last day was the hardest as I felt an agitation to " get it over w/ , almost like those last moments before birth, then release and sweet joy at my "new" newborn.