Did you know? At birth, the placenta holds 33% of a baby’s total blood volume. That’s why it pulsates and is full of blood right after delivery.
In the United States, it is common practice to cut the cord immediately after birth. Movies and media show us this, so we become conditioned to expect it to happen quickly.
But is this the right thing to do? There is an alternative to this: delaying the cord cutting. Premature and full-term babies benefit from extra blood from the placenta.
During pregnancy, the umbilical cord connects the baby to the placenta. The placenta helps to keep the baby alive and healthy. Blood flows through the placenta. It gives the baby oxygen, glucose, and nutrients via the umbilical cord.
Delayed cord clamping is known as optimal cord clamping in other countries. It is also common practice in many foreign hospitals. It is the practice of waiting to cut the umbilical cord. This delay ranges from 1 minute to several minutes based on the provider and parental request. The benefits include:
- Increased neonatal blood volume
- Improved neonatal and infant iron stores
- Decreased neonatal and infant anaemia
Today, some moms who have vaginal births wait until the umbilical cord turns white and is free of blood. I mean, wouldn’t you want all your blood if you started using your lungs for the first time? Having an extra one-third of your blood volume can be helpful in this brand new world.
It is not the norm in the USA. This is not common practice in the majority of hospitals. They justify it by saying, increased blood volume can raise bilirubin levels. This may lead to jaundice in newborns. It turns the skin and the whites of the eyes yellow. Babies can get jaundice, even if someone clamps the cord for a short time. It’s easy to treat and usually not a cause for concern! To delay cord clamping, the mom, parents, and doula should request it from the doctors and nurses.
Yes, you can delay cord clamping if you have a caesarean (c-section) birth! It does require additional monitoring from the surgeons and typically only lasts a minute. This is because there is bleeding from the procedure. Monitoring ensures no hemorrhage or risks to mom or baby.
P.S. For more on the benefits of delayed cord clamping, contact your local midwives or doulas. In Orlando, we have a wonderful doula network: https://www.injoybirth.com. They can also help with any other services or requests for labor and delivery.
