Cutting the cord of a newborn baby has been a hot topic for about 50 years now. There are those in the camp of clamping immediately after vs those who want to wait a minute, a few minutes, or until the pulsing has stopped, and even waiting for the placenta to fall away from the baby on its own (called a lotus birth). In the news recently was a series of studies done on premature babies and the benefits of delayed cord clamping.
These studies show that delaying clamping the cord is beneficial to many preemies and can make the difference in going home or not. In as much as 69% decrease in infant mortality by waiting just two minutes to clamp the cord, we are seeing benefits to the adjustment to life outside the womb, while they’re still receiving oxygen and blood through the umbilical cord. (Cochrane Review is still pouring over these studies and weeding out what is relevant and acceptable vs crossover studies and other disqualifying factors, such as study size, criteria for acceptance into the study, etc.)
We already know that 30% of the baby’s blood is in the cord and placenta at birth, and waiting to cut the cord for even one minute improves APGAR scores and birth outcomes on healthy babies. Waiting until the cord stops pulsing allows for the placenta to detach from the uterine wall without complication, and it allows babies to receive all of their blood volume. It does, however, increase the risk of jaundice and the need for special lighting to help clear that from their blood (called bilirubin light, bili light, or phototherapy) for those that have a higher level of bilirubin in their blood and won’t have access to direct sunlight to aid the process of the liver function, such as NICU babies or babies that will be staying with their parent who needs a longer stay in the hospital.
Training doctors to go against their years (or possibly decades) of cutting and cleaning babies to immediately begin working on their needs will take time to train, and to assess which babies benefit more from immediate medical attention vs those that would be better served getting more of their own blood volume that resides in the placenta. For instance, Cochrane has stated that the delayed cord clamping seems to have the opposite effect on micro-preemies (babies born before 28 weeks gestation). It is definitely a conversation worthy of having with your provider prior to birth, especially if you’re at risk of premature birth or complications.
DoulaWise 