For many parents, their baby's umbilical cord is clamped and cut by a doctor - and the process is over in seconds.
But a growing trend has seen some families opting to burn through their baby's cord slowly with a lit candle.
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Apparently the ‘sacred severance’ acts as another way of bonding a new family.
Californian mother Samantha Geston has spoken about her own 'cord-burning' experience, revealing that her parents, husband and daughter all took turns at holding the candle underneath the cord, until it burned through in 20 minutes.
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She told Today parents: "It was really magical and everyone was so happy and it was just the perfect way to end a beautiful pregnancy and a beautiful birth."
The practice has been around in some cultures for hundreds of years as a way of lowering the chance of infection and bleeding after birth.
But is it really safer?
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Dr Iffath Hoskins of NYU Langone Medical Centre told The Mail Online that there is no reason to stop cord burning as long as precautions are taken to stop the baby being burnt or the risk of a fire as the result of the open flame.
She said: "If parents want cord burning, there is no reason to prevent them from getting it done provided it can be done safely."
This can be achieved by stretching the cord out away from the baby so that it is connected to the placenta in a bowl by the side of the bed
Because the blood flow between the baby and the placenta stops quite quickly after birth, the extra time taken to burn the cord does not affect the health of the baby, Dr Hoskins said.
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*Stock images used.