Study on delayed cord clamping

L0L0

I thought some of you may find this interesting, from today's New York Times:

Childbirth: Benefits Seen in Clamping the Cord Later

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Published: November 28, 2011

Waiting three minutes or longer before clamping a newborn?s umbilical cord reduces the prevalence of iron deficiency at four months, a large trial has found.

Swedish researchers studied 334 infants, randomly assigning half to have their cords clamped within 10 seconds of birth and the rest to clamping after three minutes or longer. The two groups were statistically identical in gestational age, head circumference, health and age of the mother, and other characteristics.

In blood tests at two days after birth, there were no significant differences in iron status. But when researchers analyzed blood taken at four months, they found iron concentrations were 45 percent higher in the delayed clamping group, and iron deficiency was significantly more prevalent in those who were clamped early.

Dr. Ola Andersson, the lead author and a pediatrician at the Hospital of Halland in Halmstad, Sweden, pointed out that there were no adverse effects to delayed clamping.

?Many obstetricians worry about jaundice, and most believe that delayed clamping causes it,? he said. But he and his colleagues found no difference in rates of jaundice.

The study, published this month in the journal BMJ, is one of the largest randomized trials of delayed cord clamping and the first to assess iron status beyond the neonatal period in a high-income country.

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Mrs.Greeko

Hmmmm.  My second didn't have her cord clamped for over an hour and she was anemic at 6 months old.  But she never got jaundiced...