Tell me about delayed clamping

[Snow mom]

I need to start thinking about and discussing birth plans with my OB. With DD I had a very by the book hospital birth. I had wanted to donate her cord blood but I think the fact that we are Caucasian puts us in a relatively low need group for public banks and I wasn't able to arrange it with any nearby public bank. Anyway, I was looking into banking again but I'd really prefer to do delayed clamping I think. What should I ask for/ what is considered best practices or a good compromise in a hospital setting? I think I read somewhere that even delaying 30 seconds- 1 minute gives some advantage?

[queenmama]

It really doesn't take more than a couple of minutes for the cord to stop pulsing, so I can't see why any practitioner would go against it.

Matter of fact, my MW wasn't on call and the one who delivered DD delayed clamping until all of the blood had passed, even though I didn't have the presence of mind to mention it, and my birth plan wasn't on file or even mentioned since I had to have an emergency induction.

Lara

[daisymommy]

With DS1 they clamped it immediately because I didn't know or request any different. With all 3 subsequent babies we waited until the cord was either fully drained, or had fully stopped pulsating. It only took about another 5 minutes.

The blood that a baby loses out on with immediate cord clamping can be 1/3 of their intended blood supply!

Here are some good articles for you:

Common Objections to Delayed Cord Clamping; What's the Evidence Say?
http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=5730#.UKKl8i7OgHA.facebook

90 seconds to change the world by Dr. Greene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw53X98EvLQ&feature=player_embedded

scroll down to "The Baby, the Cord, and Active Management"...
http://www.sarahbuckley.com/leaving-well-alone-a-natural-approach-to-the-third-stage-of-labour/

http://erinmidwife.com/2011/05/30/omg-you-did-not-just-clamp-out-a-third-of-my-babys-blood-supply/

http://midwifethinking.com/2011/02/10/cord-blood-collection-confessions-of-a-vampire-midwife/

[SnuggleBuggles]

Good reasons in the links above. We did it with both boys bc I could see no reason not to do it and only benefits to doing it.

[Katigre]

I know we recently had a thread about this with lots of links...let me see if I can find it.

Here is what I would put in my birth plan: "No immediate cord clamping. Allow umbilical cord to finish pulsing before clamping."

The difference in the cord's appearance pre-and post- blood transfer is amazing. It shrinks down to the size of a pinky finger in width and is bright BRIGHT white.

[Katigre]

Links: http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=3637888&postcount=22
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=419064&highlight=cord

[swissair81]

(NAK) I did this with my two youngest girls. I don't really have free hands to type now, but wanted to chime in and say that we're so happy we did this.

[jennilynn]

This is one of the main reasons I chose to have homebirths, because I was worried about getting a hospital on board with delayed clamping and knew I wouldn't be able to protest in that moment. I doubt every OB reads or follows a birth plan, so if I were you, I would hire a doula and have her be your advocate. Or at the very least, make sure your DH is watching and have him speak up if they try to clamp right away. Reading about cord blood banking convinced me--if that blood is so wonderful, why wouldn't I want MY baby to have it right away?!? It makes more sense to me.

[marymoo86]

Agree with PPs - waited until stopped pulsing. I spoke with the donation coordinator and she indicated with their protocols it was fine to do this.

[georgiegirl]

I wanted to do it, but the cord was wrapped around DS's neck in such a way the OB had to cut it before I could push out his body.

If I have another child, I will definitely request it.

[MSWR0319]

We delayed with DS1 for what seemed like quite awhile. I delivered him with a midwife. Everyone mentioned how wonderful his color was and not "newborn looking" when they came to visit. With DS2 we had not mentioned delaying to my doctor yet, but was planning on doing it at the next appointment which never happened! I forgot to bring it up while I was in labor, but do think that he did delay about a minute before cutting. I figure it's better than nothing and DS2 also had great color.

[brittone2]

We delayed with all 3 and were happy with that decision. DS1 was not a great solids eater until he was over a year. He had his iron tested right around his first bday and he was at the lower end of normal. I wonder if he hadn't had the cord blood, if he would have been anemic. He had some issues with constipation, so supplemental iron would have wreaked havoc there too. Right after his test, he finally started eating more solid foods and so forth, but I do think the delayed cutting may have given us a bit of a cushion in terms of iron stores.

(eta: we had midwives for all 3 births, so this is fairly typical protocol for them, although we did request it in our birthplan).

[jjordan]

This is one of the main reasons I chose to have homebirths, because I was worried about getting a hospital on board with delayed clamping and knew I wouldn't be able to protest in that moment. I doubt every OB reads or follows a birth plan, so if I were you, I would hire a doula and have her be your advocate. Or at the very least, make sure your DH is watching and have him speak up if they try to clamp right away. Reading about cord blood banking convinced me--if that blood is so wonderful, why wouldn't I want MY baby to have it right away?!? It makes more sense to me.

To the bolded - I think this is very true. With our last dd (first hospital birth), our "birth plan" was kept extremely simple so that it would be easy to follow. This was it: "Delay clamping the cord until it has stopped pulsing. Delay eye goop for one hour. Refuse Hep B." And that was it. It was followed. :)

Although that's sort of off-topic - OP, sounds like you've gotten pretty much everything you need as far as info about delayed cord clamping. Hope your birth goes the way you want!

[flashy09]

Just out of curiosity, why do all doctors not delay the cord clamping? Is the research not mainstream? Are they just in a rush? I so wish I had known more about this before I gave birth although DD has been very healthy.

[Katigre]

Just out of curiosity, why do all doctors not delay the cord clamping? Is the research not mainstream? Are they just in a rush? I so wish I had known more about this before I gave birth although DD has been very healthy.
Yes and yes. If you read academic obgyn he talks about this. It is sloooooooowly becoming better known.


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