This is just another thing I didn't know until a couple of days ago: the importance of delayed umbilical cord clamping. Early cord clamping weakens babies and contributes to a host of illnesses later in life. It is well documented that this is so, and that babies whose cords had not been cut until they stopped pulsating are much healthier. How did I not know this?!
Before I go on, let me say this: there is absolutely no benefit to early cord clamping. Quite simply, there is only harm done. Unfortunately it is a habit that many doctors and midwifes have so if you want them to wait make sure you tell them!
If you are pregnant you know about cord blood banking. It's in every pregnancy magazine and website. So why is it available? Because umbilical cord blood really is amazing. However, we fail to notice something very important: if we deprive our babies of cord blood in the first place, we may only be contributing to them needing it later!
Early cord clamping has been associated with respiratory distress, anemia, intraventricular hemorrhage, and late-onset sepsis among others. There is even some speculation that early cord clamping contributes to autism. Delaying the cord clamping for just a few minutes decreases the chances of all of these complications!
If you think about it, it makes sense. If you cut the cord early, the infant is being deprived of nearly HALF of its blood supply! Let mother nature do her thing. She knows a thing or two.
Cord blood is not ordinary blood.
Wow! I had no idea about this. How long are you supposed to wait to cut it?
ReplyDeleteEvery minute that you wait helps, but I'm going to wait until it stops pulsating to make sure. (they say about 15 minutes)
ReplyDeleteI'll be waiting an hour cause I want to nurse first and let the mood be calm for a while. It may stop pulsing in the middle after a short while but it will still be pulsing down where you cut it for longer. :)
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