Benefits Of Lotus Birth For Babies

Birth is much more difficult for the baby than for its placenta because of its size, its bony skeleton and so forth. It is quite likely that the trauma of birth causes the baby to lose its hold on the deep consciousness of itself as a being grounded in placental/ earth consciousness, the unconscious wisdom of the body, the mammalian brain, as Odent puts it in the foreword to this book. If the cord is not cut, this familiar wisdom or sense of being that still resonates in the placenta can be accessed by the baby. 

Birth and the placenta

Birth does not disturb the consciousness of the placenta because the placenta does not have to struggle to take a breath as does the baby, nor does it have sense receptors that are bombarded by strange unfamiliar sensations. 

Being still connected to the placenta after birth allows the baby to reconnect with its former sense of inner stability, of connection to a deep unchanging reality. It can remember the familiar resonance of deep unconscious knowing that still resides in the placenta. 

For this connection to occur we need to allow babies time after birth. When a baby is not given time he or she cannot relate deeply with the knowing residing in the placenta. Not allowing time is a contemporary disease – we cannot stop hurrying. Lack of time to strengthen ourselves after birth from the energy of the placenta may be a primary imprint for the feeling that we do not have enough time in life. 

The sacredness of birth

Allowing time after birthing also allows for the sacredness of birth to be recognised. We more clearly see the miracle that birth is when we have time to gaze, to hold, to touch. Mott also talks about the incorporation of the placenta into the psyche of the baby. He describes a process that begins with the first breath, when the placenta is felt as the lungs that allow the nourishing first breath, the throat is felt as the cord and the brain or head is now the baby/foetus. This model is fascinating in that it is based on his findings in the deep intra-psychic work with his patients and himself. That is, it is what he found. 

However, two things are notable, one is that it takes the early cutting of the cord (the male medical model) for granted, and the other is that the placenta is felt by the psyche to be internalised after birth. 

In the case of a Lotus Birth there is less pressure on the baby to breathe immediately, and the transition between the intrauterine environment and condition of utter dependence to the first steps of independence outside the womb is not as severe and threatening. The placenta is psychologically akin to the mother who is there for the toddler exploring the environment – the toddler ventures forth happily in a new environment as long as the mother is there for frequent returns to the reassurance of her presence. 

To some extent, it is simply the presence of the placenta that is important, as Rachana discovered with newborns whose cords were cut when their placenta was physically moved away from them. When the placenta remains connected to the baby after birth, the baby internalises a sense of deep connection to its physical being and the knowing that is in the mammalian and reptilian brains (see Pearce). 

Benefits of Lotus Birth for connection

What difference does a Lotus Birth make? As Mott points out, after birth the ideal situation would be that a baby gradually withdraws its own recognition, knowledge and relationship from the placenta into itself. 

This would happen first on a physical level with the nourishment left in the placenta flowing naturally into the baby. Then it would happen in terms of feelings, with the feeling of safety and trust that surrounds being recognised for who I truly am. If I know myself on this level, I can rely on the feelings I get from my body to guide my behaviour in the world. I am not vulnerable.

With a Lotus Birth, the baby can draw into itself the deep sense of connection to the fact of embodiment, its composition of blood, bones, muscles and other tissue – it can experience its complete incorporation. This then becomes the knowing on which its sense of being is based. This deep knowing lends it a security, a reassurance of being what it is. 

When our connection with the fact of our physical being is firm, we are then free to become aware of what lies beyond – the higher levels of existence. We become better able to experience ourselves as bodies of light and energy beyond the dense reality of the physical body (Daricha). We are open to inspiration, to higher guidance, to insight.