Gloria Lemay posted several videos on the subject of delayed cord clamping. This lecture is from the January 2011 joint Pediatric/OBGYN Grand Rounds at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Nicholas S. Fogelson shared a lot of great information on the benefits of waiting several minutes to cut the umbilical cord after birth.
I highly recommend watching these videos if you are planning a birth and you’re not sure when you will cut your baby’s cord. I also recommend watching them if you are considering cord blood banking (which requires early clamping). They’re about 45 minutes in total, but they’re very much worth the time.
Just to whet your appetite for the information you’re about to hear, I’ll post Dr. Fogelson’s points of summation below:
- Placental transfusion naturally occurs in all mammals… except when another human clamps the cord early.
- Delayed cord clamping increases fetal hemoglobin, blood volume, and iron stores.
- Evidence supports the clinical benefit of delayed clamping, and there’s no evidence against it.
- Immediate clamping can deprive the baby of up to 40% of its total blood volume.
- Baby can stay on mom’s belly and still receive full placental transfusion (even elevated slightly above placenta).
- Delayed clamping is especially beneficial to the preterm baby- they should receive their cord blood before being whisked to the NICU if possible.
- Even if a baby is not breathing at birth, he or she is still oxygenated through the cord.
- There are theoretical effects of delayed clamping that may have substantial impact on neonatal, childhood, and adult disease.
Please enjoy these videos, and share them with your pregnant friends!
the birth bug 