A lotus birth is when the cord between the baby and the placenta is not cut. A bowl is used to carry around the placenta along with the baby. The cord falls off naturally, slowly decreasing the oxygen supply from the placenta to the baby. The women I've talked to give this birth a lot of spiritual weight. I buried Zachary's placenta in a place meaningful to me.
Some people bury it at the base of trees.
This is a piece of meat that nothing was killed to eat. There are even recipes out there for cooking it.