Optimal cord clamping - what’s the deal?
The umbilical cord – the magic connector between the baby and the placenta. Most people don’t think too much about it – other than who is going to cut the cord. But it’s actually when the cord is cut that is so important.
The prevalent thinking used to be that the umbilical cord should be clamped and cut as soon as the baby is born, otherwise the blood would flow out of the baby, and into the placenta, where it would stay.
But we now know this is not the case. Once the baby is born, if the umbilical cord is left unclamped, all the baby’s blood is able to flow into the baby. If the cord is clamped straight away, the baby misses out on up to 30% of its blood volume (or up to 50% if the baby is pre-term).
That is a LOT of blood that babies could potentially miss out on, if the cord is clamped immediately.
Most people are now pretty clued up on optimal cord clamping, but it’s still a good idea to put this explicitly on your birth plan. Many choose to write “wait for white”. This is because once the blood has flowed into the baby, the umbilical cord will turn white, and will stop pulsating.
Waiting for the cord to turn white before clamping and cutting has numerous benefits for your baby.
- Ensures that babies get their full blood volume
- Ensures babies get all their stem cells, which are the building blocks of their bodily systems
- Improves iron stores and prevents iron deficiency anaemia which affects 43% of children under 5 years old
- Reduces mortality in premature babies by 30%
The evidence showing the benefits of waiting for white has been around for 70 years, and yet it is only in the last few years that we have seen this become common practice in hospital.
This is a great example of how many decisions in UK trusts are based on culture, and “what’s always been done” rather than research or evidence.
So let this be a reminder to you to question everything, do your own research, and make your own fully informed choices.