Jess gave birth to her second baby Arya Ruby, followed by a physiological third stage in a planned hospital waterbirth. The hospital where Jess gave birth is located in the north-east region of Victoria in Australia. It has a maternity service that facilitates approximately 1200 births per annum with a level 2 special care nursery. … Continue reading
Wait ‘til the cord stops pulsing – one OB’s opinions There is an increasing number of parents choosing delayed cord clamping for their children, therefore an obstetrician from California decided to “research the pros and cons” of delayed clamping and write a blog post about this topic. With few references to be found in Dr. … Continue reading
The following decision aids have been produced by the Queensland Centre for Mothers & Babies. Choices about clamping your baby’s umbilical cord (2.16MB) “A decision aid for women having a vaginal birth. This has been written to support women planning to have a vaginal birth to know what expect and have a say in making … Continue reading
Choices about your baby’s umbilical cord and clamping– do you have all the information? In Australia, the Queensland Centre for Mothers and Babies are producing a decision aid for women titled (draft) ‘Choices about your baby’s umbilical cord’. From their website: “The Queensland Centre for Mothers & Babies (QCMB) is an independent research centre based at … Continue reading
International Conference on Transitional Care Cutting the Cord 19 April 2013 The event will be held in the Centre for Professional Development, The Medical School, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Please visit the webpage for this conference for up-to-date and correct information click here Programme “Childbirth today is safer than it ever has been throughout history. Modern … Continue reading
Gunnar Jay’s birth story Valerie and Zeke are proud to share the birth experience of their beautiful son Gunnar Jay, born March 8 2012 at York Hospital in Pennsylvania, USA. Valerie writes the attending doctors and several nurses informed her Gunnar was their first experience at York Hospital with delayed cord clamping! “Unfortunately we have … Continue reading
Elise is a birth and postnatal doula and has generously shared the birth story of her third baby Dimitri. This birth was in Swindon, United Kingdom. Dimitri was born via an emergency c-section, after transferring from a planned homebirth. Elise arrived at the hospital prepared with a birth plan outlining the “natural cesearean ‘woman-centred’ technique”, … Continue reading
Immediate and premature clamping of the baby’s umbilical cord is a ritual performed in many hospitals across the globe. Premature clamping became standard clinical practice without evidence and without regard/ understanding of the physiological changes in the baby in the first few minutes after birth. There is no scientific evidence that supports immediate clamping in vaginal or cesarean birth. For those interested … Continue reading
*Trigger Warning – in speaking out against birth violence, this article contains an image and descriptions that may be highly distressing. Please exercise discretion before proceeding* – - – scroll down to continue – - – - Midwife Training Film – YouTube Training in what NOT to do As of July 2012, there have been … Continue reading
Premature clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord can be highly traumatic Studies show that premature cord clamping can cause: significant blood loss for the baby (loss of 15 to 30%, and up to 40% -50% in more extreme cases of fetal distress and cord compression prior to clamping) (1) loss of red blood cells (up to 50%) … Continue reading
Nuchal Cord: Ritual and Routine
A session presented by Cord-Clamping.Com for the 2012 Virtual International Day of the Midwife conference.
Cochrane Review – Effect of timing of umbilical cord clamping of term infants on maternal and neonatal outcomes 2009 The full review report, (plus responses critical of the inclusion of infants requiring phototherapy for jaundice as a significant finding) click here for PDF: cochrane review early vs late cord clamping review with responses Background Policies for timing … Continue reading
Overview of literature on immediate versus delayed cord clamping in full term infants Cord-Clamping.Com wishes to acknowledge the work of student midwife Tina Lundholm in the design and development of this literature overview. At time of writing Tina has completed her degree and has applied for registration to work as clinical midwife in Australia. Please … Continue reading
Nurturing Hearts Birth Services has produced a wonderful photo essay of an intact umbilical cord, showing the changes that occur over 15 minutes from the moment of birth. Click here to see the full article and photo essay – Magic Umbilical Cords
For our first child we planned a home birth attended by a midwife. One of our reasons for choosing a homebirth was because we felt it was important not to rush cord clamping and cutting. When we asked our midwife her position on cord clamping and cutting, her answer was “barring any emergencies, clamping can … Continue reading
The ‘third stage of labour’ is described as the time from birth of the baby to the expulsion of the placenta and membranes. Although succinct, this description does not capture the immense beauty of a natural third stage. Behold the exquisite moment of first contact between mother and baby in an undisturbed birth In natural … Continue reading
When the cord is surgically clamped at birth, the volume of blood within the newborn baby is fixed. While the healthy, full term baby routinely survives early cord clamping, some babies are born prematurely or with a dangerously low blood volume. A low blood volume (hypovolemia) can be caused by compression on the cord, a … Continue reading
DELAYED CORD CLAMPING Delayed cord clamping is a birth practice where the umbilical cord is not clamped or cut until after pulsations have ceased, or until after the placenta is delivered. A growing number of parents are choosing delayed cord clamping for their baby, while some believe in non-severance (lotus birth). (1) While an intact … Continue reading
Cesarean section and delayed cord clamping “Immediate clamping is routine at cesarean section but lacks scientific evidence” (Erikson-Owens, 2009). Delayed clamping of the umbilical cord in cesarean section delivery is possible for many babies. In fact, delayed clamping in cesarean section is standard for some practitioners - to enhance placental transfusion and increase the baby’s blood volume at … Continue reading
Search for ‘birth injury’ in your favourite search engine and you will see plenty of advertisements by legal firms. In the last few years, laywers have caught on to the practice and harms of immediate infant cord clamping too! Maybe having a lawyer at your birth is not such a bad idea, given their understanding of neonatal … Continue reading
