Ok, I know i am very new at this, but i am feeling a little confused, maybe y'all could help me out... I was looking at information on Lotus Birth, and there was info there that i KNEW to be wrong. It said that nurses and EMTs give oxytocin to speed up delivery of placentas. I am an EMT, i am allowed to give five drugs. That isn't one of them. None of us in the field (of prehospital medicine) give anything to speed up delivery of a child or placenta that i have ever heard of... Most of us would actually rather people didn't deliver in the back of our ambulances... I am also a bit confused about Lotus Birth in itself. What are the risks of cutting the cord according to a lotus birth advocate? What do you all think of lotus birth? Is it something i am likely to encounter a lot in practice? Where do you get ACCURATE information on this type of thing? I am leery of sites that claim to have supporting evidence for their position but do not show how to find it or have links to it...
Sorry about the length, I appreciate any input you all have...
Okay, I didn't know what this was so I looked it up. Ew! I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone if you've done this but this is gross. If you have done this though, please share the experience with me. I'm very all natural and open to things. Not to mention, a whole lot curious!
You will probably find some helpful information in there!
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Thanks Becky! I'm now knowledgable in all things Lotus Birth. I do have one question, would this require an extra carseat? J/K Also, ick that people eat it! I think I'll stick with the delayed cord cutting but kudo's to those of you who go all the way.
Thanks Becky! I'm now knowledgable in all things Lotus Birth. I do have one question, would this require an extra carseat? J/K Also, ick that people eat it! I think I'll stick with the delayed cord cutting but kudo's to those of you who go all the way.
You don't really go anywhere until the cord falls off, so you wouldn't need a carseat for the placenta. I only know one lotus birther IRL, and they treated the placenta with herbs and salt and wrapped it in it's own cloth diaper and gave it a bath every day until the cord fell off, which was 4 days IIRC? It's really interesting to hear her talk about it. And eating a bit of the placenta is said to help pp hemmorage and ppd. I figure to each their own. Some things might not be my cup of tea, but there's a lot I do which isn't someone elses cup of tea and I like it when they respect my choices!
Thanks Amy.... its not my thing either. . But i guess each to their own.
As far as EMT's deliveing and stuff, I have wondered that myself. I am a volunteer firefighter/emergency medical... we were taught to cut the cord. But now that I have read and learned more, i think I would just leave it, and if the placenta comes, wrap it in a clean towel, and let the hospital deal with it all.
Last edited by doula Michele; 09-15-2007 at 09:47 PM.
While I do not feel that Lotus Birth is something I would do, I have to respect people's choice to do so. They tend to be very well educated on the matter, and approach it from an educated and spiritual nature.
As for the benefits of placenta eating, in the event of an emergency birth with severe bleeding, I wouldn't hesitate to take a bite if it could possibly stop the bleeding, or at least slow it down until I could get help, KWIM? And you can have it dried and encapsulated to take after birth to ward off PP depression, no gross factor there, its just a pill and I do plan on doing that as I had PP depression after DD and would rather try to a natural remedy/prevention.
Liz
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I don't think even big Lotus Birth fans claim there is scientific proof that there is some major benefit. Its a neat ritual, though, and in a society that has so few non-medical rituals surrounding birth (dad cuts cord is about the only one I can think of off the top of my head), I think the lotus birth trend is only positive.
So often, in our zeal to be evidence-based, I think we are too quick to say "Oh, there is no proof of the benefit, therefore it has no value," Not meaning that anyone was saying that here, but that in general . . .
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While I do not feel that Lotus Birth is something I would do, I have to respect people's choice to do so. They tend to be very well educated on the matter, and approach it from an educated and spiritual nature.
That.
If you are doing mostly hospital births I doubt you'll run into this. And in the homebirth setting it is quite rare.
I haven't done a lotus birth but....this right here is not necessary IMO:
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I don't mean to offend anyone if you've done this but this is gross.
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Also, ick that people eat it!
It's fine if you don't agree with it or think it's gross but to say that about/to someone who might be reading this who has done it is appalling. You may encounter many things as a doula that you don't agree with or are new to you and you need to be very careful in your reaction.
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My view of how this thread is going:
To be honest, if anyone is offended by someone else simply thinking that something is "gross", then that person is probably being way too sensitive, IMHO. Now, if someone directly called another member or her family "gross", then that would be a totally different story. I haven't looked back at one of the earlier "placenta eating" threads we've had in the past, but I'm pretty sure that I said that I thought that practice was "gross" in one of those threads. To my knowledge, no one was offended in any of those threads.
Btw.... One can think that something is "gross" but still respect the opinions of those who don't. I haven't perceived any disrespect of others within this thread, and we haven't received any complaints from members who were supposedly offended. We do need to follow the CG's (which have not been violated within this thread at this time), but while doing so, I don't think that we should have to hide our honest thoughts by walking on egg shells either.
Topics such as this are not considered "mainstream", and will understandably seem odd and maybe even "gross" to some. I see nothing wrong with that being stated. We should also know that things can seem more odd when it is new information to us. Let's take this opportunity to educate, and whether loving it or not so loving it, personal opinions of these practices (not ppl) should not be taken personally.
Carry on with the interesting discussion.
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Thanks Amy.... its not my thing either. . But i guess each to their own.
As far as EMT's deliveing and stuff, I have wondered that myself. I am a volunteer firefighter/emergency medical... we were taught to cut the cord. But now that I have read and learned more, i think I would just leave it, and if the placenta comes, wrap it in a clean towel, and let the hospital deal with it all.
whoops i didn't mean to start something like this... I think celery, liver, and escargo are gross, but i will support any woman who wants to eat it, and any other woman who thinks they are gross... I think we are all professional enough to not inhibit a momma who wants to do something a bit differently. As to the evidence question... It is not so much needing to have evidence or proof in order to believe in something or perform whatever ritual... It's the alluding to having scientific studies that prove that it is beneficial and not ever ciiting them in the text or giving me the info i need to look it up on my own... It seems somehow dishonest to me. That is only information that i got from one site though. Even if there isn't any evidence, I can see that their might be benefits, i was just hoping there was someone more familiar with the subject to guide me to find them, and there was!! Thanks to the site and thread posters!!
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Originally Posted by suz
...I think celery, liver, and escargo are gross, but i will support any woman who wants to eat it, and any other woman who thinks they are gross... I think we are all professional enough to not inhibit a momma who wants to do something a bit differently...
"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals". ~J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I'm now knowledgable in all things Lotus Birth. I do have one question, would this require an extra carseat? J/K Also, ick that people eat it! 
I think I'll stick with the delayed cord cutting but kudo's to those of you who go all the way. 
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I haven't perceived any disrespect of others within this thread, and we haven't received any complaints from members who were supposedly offended. We do need to follow the CG's (which have not been violated within this thread at this time), but while doing so, I don't think that we should have to hide our honest thoughts by walking on egg shells either.
