If you're accustomed to movie births, you will see a baby emerge, and his or her cord immediately clamped and the physician asking, "Do you wanna cut the cord?" New research shows tremendous benefit to delaying this moment for just a few minutes.
"Several
clinical studies have shown that delaying clamping the umbilical cord not only allows more blood to be transferred but helps prevent anemia as well," said the paper's lead author Dr. Paul Sanberg, director of the Center. "Cord blood also contains many valuable stem cells, making this transfer of stem cells a process that might be considered 'the original stem cell transplant'."At birth, the placenta and umbilical cord start contracting and pumping blood toward the newborn. After the blood equilibrates, the cord's pulse ceases and blood flow from mother to newborn stops. In recent Western medical practice, early clamping -- from 30 seconds to one minute after birth -- remains the most common practice among obstetricians and midwives, perhaps because the benefits of delaying clamping have not been clear. However, waiting for more than a minute, or until the cord stops pulsating, may be beneficial, the authors said." - Science News Daily
"Just a two-minute delay in clamping a baby's umbilical cord can boost the child's iron reserves and prevent anemia for months, report nutritionists at the University of California, Davis.
[...]
'By simply delaying cord clamping for this brief time, we can provide the infant with the extra blood, and the iron it contains, from the placenta," said Dewey, an expert in maternal and infant nutrition. "This is an efficient, low-cost way to intervene at birth without harm to the infant or the mother.'" - Science News Daily
For more information on delayed cord clamping, check out the other articles on Science News Daily.
Umbilical Cord Clamping Should be Delayed, Says Experts
Health Risks, Benefits Come with Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping
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