Nothing says family bonding quite like lighting your newborn's umbilical cord on fire as your loved ones look on. Amiright, ladies? It sounds crazy, but some parents are actually opting to do just that. The practice, called "sacred severance," and it involves one or both parents holding a candle to their newborn's outstretched umbilical cord, essentially severing the baby from the placenta. The practice can take up to twenty minutes to perform, which seems to be a major selling point for some parents.
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Diehard fans of the trend argue the ritual enables them to bond with their newborn as a family. "Too many times during birth, everything happens so quickly," reasons one mother who has tried the sacred ritual. "This is a really slow and gentle process that slows everything down and makes it so memorable." Well, you know what else is memorable? Accidentally burning your baby.
But according to some proponents of the trend, the ritual is totally safe. Some parents use what's called a burn box (is it wrong that this made me laugh?) to hold the candle in place and keep candle wax from dripping all over their baby. And though some experts remain divided on the issue, many say cord burning may be healthier for both mom and baby than, say, the ol' fashioned snipperoo. You see, blood flow between the baby and placenta stops soon after the baby is born, which in turn creates an ideal environment for infection-causing bacteria. Advocates of cord burning argue that searing the cord lowers the risk of infection by sterilizing the tissue.
Having taken these totally valid points into consideration, I still think I'm going to have to pass on cord burning. If and when I have children, you can be sure that I will not be setting my baby's umbilical cord on fire as if it were some kind of firecracker. Besides, who has time to sit there as their partner holds a candle to their baby's umbilical cord for twenty minutes? Not this lady. I'd rather have a trained medical professional quickly snip the cord, so that we can all go about our family bonding, without a cord or placenta in sight.I
Images via Thinkstock, Santa Cruz Birth Photography/Facebook
