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Delayed Cord Clamping

In a Nutshell

Throughout pregnancy, the umbilical cord is essentially the lifeline between you and your baby. The umbilical cord allows oxygen and nutrients to be transported from your blood circulation to baby’s blood circulation. The umbilical cord also carries waste and deoxygenated blood into your circulatory system to be eliminated.

On average, there is about 80mL-100mL of blood left in the umbilical cord. If we wait for the cord to stop pulsing before cutting it, letting all of that blood flow into the baby, that contributes to almost 40% of baby’s entire blood volume! (The average 8lb baby has about 270mL of blood in their entire body).

Dig Deeper

Delayed cord clamping has become increasingly popular over the last few years. Years ago, it was standard practice to immediately cut the cord and whisk baby away to be examined. We now know the importance of immediate skin-to-skin and delayed cord clamping.

Right after your baby is born, the placenta is still inside of you. The cord will be coming out of your vagina and attached to baby’s belly button. Sometimes, the umbilical cord is short, and baby cannot be brought all the way to your chest

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Delay Cord Clamping 5+ Minutes

Make sure to have conversations with your care provider both prenatally and just before the time of birth. Remember that most of the cord blood enters the baby around 5 minutes. Since care providers are assessing baby’s APGARs at 1 minute and 5 minutes, they are already watching the clock. Saying, “We would like to wait until after the 5 minute APGAR to cut the cord” can be a concrete way to communicate your wishes with your care provider.

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