💥 Cord Burning 💥
🔥 Cord Burning 🔥
Many families these days are thinking very much about when and how they want their baby’s cord cut/disconnected from the placenta (or perhaps not at all, during Lotus birthing 🪷).
Many of us are very much aware of the importance to let the cord finish pulsing and turn white to give the tiny human the optimal start in life ♥️.
And many people decide to use an alternative to plastic cord clamps, such as a fabric cord tie 🧶.
But did you know there is also a different way to separate the baby from the placenta other than simply cutting the cord?
There is! (Well, there are several other ways, I knew someone who chewed through the cord, but I don’t see this becoming particularly popular 😬)
🔥 CORD BURNING 🔥 is definitely becoming more popular. It is a process by which the cord gets separated from the placenta by burning through it with a candle/candles.
It is a fairly lengthy and quite hypnotic process, that can be a lovely peaceful ceremony to ground everyone again after birth ♥️
Is it safe 🤔?
Well, there really is no good data on cord burning tbh, so it is hard to say, but quite possibly is is safe as long as measures in terms of fire safety are in place, and the cord has ceased pulsing and is flaccid and white when the burning starts.
❓How to:
🔥 only start once placenta is out
🔥 make sure everyone is calm, settled and WELL before starting, it will take a while, probably 10-15 mins, possibly a bit more, depending.
🔥use a couple of natural candles that are fairly thin so they can be easily angled and manoeuvred. Beeswax is nice.
🔥 keep a good distance from the baby’s belly, heat radiates❗️at least 8-10 inches or so.
🔥use a designated cord burning box or a piece of aluminium covered piece cardboard with a notch for the cord to keep heat away from baby. You can also cover the baby with a towel for extra protection….if not using a box, have something to catch dripping wax
🔥 always stay alert when doing a cord burning ritual, someone other than the birthing person should be ready to adjust things if safety is compromised
🔥 it smells a bit 👀
🔥 there might be crackling and popping noises due to moisture in the cord
🔥 it helps if someone keeps some tension on the cord where it’s being burned and makes sure there is NO tension on the cord where it is attached to the baby
🔥 twisting the cord can help the flame to burn through quicker
🔥 when the burning is done CHECK THE HEAT OF THE CORD BEFORE TOUCHING THE BABY WITH IT. It might still be very hot.
🔥 you will have a fairly long cord remnant attached to the baby still once done, so you can tie a knot in it, and in 24 hours or so it will have shrunk significantly
🔥 theoretically the burning should have cauterised the big vessels in the cord and there should not be any leakage hopefully. HOWEVER, I would suggest still putting a tie on the cord for extra safety as the cord vessels are LARGE. If you don’t, keep a really close eye on the cord for oozing of blood. If you see any, put a tie on it asap.
🔥 again, we don’t know anything about safety, so cord burning is a decision you need to think carefully about. Many people are very comfortable with it, and it can be a beautiful end to a birth, but it does need a bit of planning to keep it as safe as it can be 🔥.
Photo by Bedheadbirth: Nikki Williams Birth Services ❤️