The cutting of the umbilical cord can signify an important moment in the both the mother and child's life. Recently, expecting mothers have begun to forego the procedure and allow it to fall of naturally in what's known as a Lotus Birth.

Connecting the mother's placenta to her baby, the umbilical cord is tasked with the responsibility of delivering essential nutrients and oxygen to the developing fetus.

The placenta is birthed from the mother's body usually within 30 minutes after the baby. On average it takes 10 days for the placenta and the umbilical cord to completely separate naturally. During this time, a mother who elected for lotus birth would carry around the 1 pound organ around with her baby.

Midwife educator and lotus birth advocate Mary Ceallaigh, 47, sat down with The New York Post to talk about this unorthodox new procedure that's gaining a considerable amount of ground with parents.

The Texas native told the Post, "The mother and baby benefit from having all the focused placed on bonding, rather than the common focus of 'who's going to cut the cord, cut the bond?' Invading the natural process when there's a healthy mother and baby is likely to cause harm in some way seen or unseen."

Ceallaigh and other lotus birth enthusiasts' claim leaving the umbilical cord attached will allow for the appropriate transfer of essential oxygen and nourishment the baby needs for development.

The incision left by the cord cutting procedure can also be considered hazardous to the child who at the time is twice as susceptible to infection.

Ceallaigh added, "Babies' immune systems are going through huge changes at a very rapid rate when they're first born. Not disrupting the baby's blood volume at that time helps prevent future disease."

Out of over 100 natural births she has helped deliver Ceallaigh said close to five percent practiced a Lotus Birth adding, "For prepared folks, it's the easiest part of the birth!"

In 2010, researchers from the University of South Florida conducted a study on the effect early clamping of the umbilical can have on blood transferring from the mother to her infant.

"Several clinical studies have shown that delaying clamping the umbilical cord not only allows more blood to be transferred but helps prevent anemia as well," said the paper's lead author Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, director of the Center. "Cord blood also contains many valuable stem cells, making this transfer of stem cells a process that might be considered 'the original stem cell transplant'."

The study was published in The Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.