Mom makes use of earth, wind, fire and water to give birth

A mum cut her own umbilical cord by burning it with a candle half an hour after giving birth and enlisted the help of one of her other children.
Lacey Barratt, 29, decided on the ceremony so that she could incorporate the four elements earth, wind, fire and water into her birth.

Earth was the space in which she gave birth, while wind was represented by the first breath her son took. Lacey delivered her son in a birth pool and used a shower for pain relief, which represented water.

When it came to fire, Lacey introduced a candle and held it up to her umbilical cord - with the help of her five-year-old son, Sam - to separate herself from her newborn baby.

It takes between 10 and 15 minutes to burn through the cord.

Why not just cut the cord, like everyone else? The mum thought it would be a more 'gentle' way than the procedures usually used in hospital.

"When you have a baby, everything is so fast-paced,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

"Baby comes out, baby goes on your chest, then they clamp and cut, everything is going so quickly."

Lacey wrote on Instagram: "Seeing this image makes my heart do flips in my chest.

"The beautiful chaos that my oldest and youngest son sits in...as we disconnect from pregnancy and enter postpartum. Well, it just makes me swoon."