Letting the cords stop pulsing?

KayJayDee

I had my first son in a birthing center with midwives, so my knowledge of hospital births is limited to A Baby Story-esque TLC shows. I'm always a little alarmed at how rushed the hospital births appear. Baby comes out and is either dropped on mom's tummy or whisked away to get assesed. The dad snips the cord and it's all go, go, go. At our birthing center it was routine practice to let the cord stop pulsing before it was clamped off and cut. I know that this is something I need to discuss with my doctor and put in my birth plan, but what is the norm for a twin vaginal birth?  

Barring an emergency, is it reasonable to expect that Baby A's cord will be allowed to stop pulsing before Baby B is ready to arrive?  And that both babies will have a little skin to skin contact before they are taken away?  

If you had an uncomplicated vaginal birth, how did this play out for you?   I know that flexibility is the name of the game, but in an ideal world...

google123

I doubt they,ll do that and you are going to be delivering in an OR since a twin birth cn have complications.  I don't think you should get hung up about your birthing plan since cord pulsing has absolutely no bearing on the health of your child.  However you could always tell them that's what you want and the worst case scenario they say no.  

 

 

E&RMommy

You really can't delay cord clamping of twin A because you have to deliver B.  Doctors are very different about delivery of B.  Some will immediately deliver; others will wait for delivery - up to hours.  Either way, the usual process is to ultrasound for B's position and heartbeat and you can't do that with baby A hanging out on your abdomen.  So 99% of the time with a twin vaginal delivery, A's cord will be clamped and cut pretty briskly.

It's difficult to make accessions with a twin delivery, but you have to remind yourself that twins are totally different from a singleton.  Emergencies arise and swift action is often necessary for safety of both mom and baby.

There are really good questions for your doctor.

Good luck!

 

Mrs. Alice

RWMomma:

It is very healthy to keep baby attached to the placenta as long as possible. Stem cells and red blood cells are pumped into baby that he/she wouldn't get if clamped and cut immediately. As long as there are no emergencies, there should be no reason that they can't stay attached as long as possible. I will be insisting on waiting to clamp and cut as long as possible, so long as no emergencies arise. Talk it over with your OB and see what he/she says. Best of luck. 

I wonder if delayed cord clamping of mono/di twins is safe or even practiced.  I think for safety they would need to clamp the cord immediately  for baby A since they can have shared connections in the placenta.  Any insight E&RMommy?

ColleenS629

I asked my OB about delayed cord clamping and her answer was "it depends" for an uncomplicated vaginal delivery... which I ended up not having so it was a moot point anyway. As far as skin to skin... provided that you make it to term, have a vaginal birth, and there are no complications with the babies, that shouldn't be a problem.