After giving birth, indigenous women in rural West Mexico traditionally bury the umbilical cord underneath a tree on their land. This ritual symbolizes the planting of roots for their child in the land and in the community, thus reaffirming the child's cultural connections.
Parents typically save and protect the umbilical cord stump in hopes that it will help keep their child out of harm's way. Some may give the stump to their son or daughter when it's time for them to move out or get married — a symbol of the adult child gaining independence.
Some Muslim scholars encourage us to bury our newborn baby's placenta and umbilical cord after their birth.
The umbilical cord doesn't have nerves so your baby has no feeling in the cord. Your baby doesn't feel pain when the doctor cuts the cord. The cord doesn't hurt your baby as it dries, shrinks and falls off.
Neither the ritual wash nor the shrouding is necessary for these babies. Placental tissue is considered part of the human body and should therefore be buried and not incinerated as presently happens in the United Kingdom.
Cord blood contains cells called hematopoietic stem cells. These cells can turn into any kind of blood cell and can be used for transplants that can cure diseases such as blood disorders, immune deficiencies, metabolic diseases, and some kinds of cancers.
Ober also identified many cultures known to have practiced placentophagy for medicinal purposes, and one for its flavor. The Araucanian Native Americans of Argentina dried and ground a child's umbilical cord, giving the child a little of the powder when it was sick.
A lotus birth is the decision to leave your baby's umbilical cord attached after they are born. The umbilical cord remains attached to the placenta until it dries and falls off by itself. What are the risks of lotus birth? There are no research studies available on this topic.
In the Navajo tradition, burial of the placenta within the boundaries of the child's family tribal land will bind or root the child's spirit to his ancestors and to the land. The Navajo believe that this will ensure that the child will always return home.
According to Chinese tradition, the umbilical cord is the symbol of wealth, and Chinese believe that keeping it will bring you fortune.
January Jones
The Mad Men actress has revealed that eating her placenta helped prevent postpartum depression. “It's something I was very hesitant about, but we're the only mammals who don't ingest our own placentas," the mother of Xander Dane Jones, said. “It's not witch-crafty or anything! I suggest it to all moms!”
The placenta, or whenua, is very sacred in the Māori culture and it is custom for it to be buried at a place of cultural significance or on ancestral land, as the Māori people believe that humans came from the Earth mother Papatūānuku, so returning the whenua to the land is a sign of respect and thanks.
Hospitals treat placentas as medical waste or biohazard material. The newborn placenta is placed in a biohazard bag for storage. Some hospitals keep the placenta for a period of time in case the need arises to send it to pathology for further analysis.
Cutting the cord too soon after birth might stress the baby's heart, increase the risk for bleeding inside the brain, and increase the risk for anemia and iron deficiency. Waiting too long may result in the infant having too many red blood cells.
The umbilical cord is usually thrown away after birth. But the blood inside the cord can be saved, or banked, for possible later use.
After the umbilical cord is cut, it is often thrown away, along with the life-saving hematopoietic stem cells. But parents can request their child's umbilical cord blood be donated instead. The donation process begins when your baby no longer needs the umbilical cord.
For Muslims the period of postnatal seclusion traditionally lasts 40 days. The religious rituals are performed on the 40th day and these include shaving the child's head, as a vaginal birth is considered unclean. This act permits, what is considered, the growth of 'new' and 'clean' hair [33].
Liqaa'aat al-Baab il-Maftooh (86/question no. 17). To sum up: Caesarean section should not be resorted to except in cases of necessity, when natural childbirth is not possible, or it poses a danger to the mother or the child. And Allaah knows best.
(Quran: Surah Az-zumar, 39:Ayah 6). “He makes you in the wombs of your mothers in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness..” This statement is from Sura 39:6.
The first hour after birth when a mother has uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact with her newborn is referred to as the “golden hour.” This period of time is critical for a newborn baby who spent the past nine months in a controlled environment.
Faster Healing of the Umbilicus: Midwife consult and lotus birth educator, Mary Ceallaigh, told the New York Post that lotus birth babies' belly buttons are “perfect.” She said in the interview, “By perfect, I mean a completely healed navel skin area. Belly button shapes vary.
'Half lotus birth' - waiting for the placenta to be born before clamping and cutting the cord.
The abnormally large placenta weighed 1,492 g, measured 25 X 25 X 5.1 cm, and featured multiple hemangiomas.