This cord has stopped pulsing completely, before being cut. My new baby niece - photo by Angela England

What is delayed cord clamping? Why did my midwife ask if that was something I wanted to do at my last prenatal checkup?

Many doctors and midwives are moving towards a longer delay in cutting the umbilical cord for a variety of reasons – most of them because of the benefits to the baby.

Delayed cord clamping is exactly what it sounds like – it means waiting to clamp (and subsequently cut) the umbilical cord that links the mother and baby together. The recent trends of the past 50-70 years has been to clamp and cut the cord almost immediately – severing the baby from the blood and oxygen supply being provided by the mother.

Recently, many OB’s and midwives are taking note of studies and trials highlighting the benefits of waiting, even just 1-3 minutes, to clamp and cut the umbilical cord. Especially in newborns who are “slow-starters” the benefits of that extra oxygen while their lungs transition to full breathing, may make a huge difference in Apgar scores.

One OB who is an active blogger, said in an article recap on the subject,

“And after some research I found that there was some pretty compelling evidence that indeed, early clamping is harmful for the baby. So much evidence in fact, that I am a bit surprised that as a community, OBs in the US have not developed a culture of delayed routine cord clamping for neonatal benefit.”

This video by Penny Simkin, reknowned childbirth educator and doula, highlights what delayed cord clamping is and how much blood that can add to a babies overall volume.

The research is scattered but taken together quite compelling. And as more and more family-friendly doctors and hospitals are being swayed by the studies coming out, this will be a more readily available option for many mothers. You can see the full list of documentation at the Academic OB website.

None of my births were high-risk, but allowing the baby time to adjust to being out of the womb before cutting the cord seemed like an easy way to make their transition more gentle.

Is this something you’ve done or would consider doing with your babies?

Angela England is a busy mother of four who helps women and mothers earn an income through web-writing on www.angengland.com. Recently branching out into speaking and personal blog consultations, England stays active in a number of online venues. She is the author of the Making Money Blogging ebook which she wrote out of personal experience as a freelance writer. With articles appearing across several websites and print magazines since launching her writing career, her initial goal of “pizza money” and keeping her kids out of daycare has blossomed into full-time work.

England is the Founder of Untrained Housewife, Editor-in-Chief of Blissfully Domestic, Plants and Bulbs Feature Writer at Suite101, a Type-A-Parent Contributor, and also operates several smaller niche sites. Additionally, she maintains several certifications in her offline life as a licensed massage therapist and a CAPPA trained labor support doula and childbirth educator.

Happily married and living in rural Oklahoma, Angela can be found on both Twitter and  Facebook.