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Waiting to clamp the umbilical cord?

MrsNicole&Brian808MrsNicole&Brian808
in Hawaii Babies

I got this article from BabyCenter today.  Maybe some of you have seen it already.

My co-worker, who had a home-birth in 2008, told me about this.  Her midwife actually left the placenta attached to baby for over an hour before burning through the umbilical cord with candle flames.  She told me the umbilical cord kind of shriveled up, became almost transluscent, and looked like a limp noodle.

The article talks about delaying cutting of the cord only a few minutes.  It seems that this is done more often than I thought it was.

Thoughts?  Did any Mamas do this?

ETA: If you did delay, do you feel your baby benefited?  How?

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Re: Waiting to clamp the umbilical cord?

  • miemie
    Interesting.  I'm not sure how long the doctor waited before letting my H cut the cord. 
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  • MauiWedding08MauiWedding08

    I requested that we wait until it stop pulsing before clamping/cutting.  I know it was even longer than that because we were "bonding" with the baby for quite a few minutes before we were interrupted by anyone in the room.  MW finally asked if she could clamp it and asked if DH wanted to cut it.  It did not change much in appearance in that (relatively) short time period between birth and cutting. 

    I also looked at it again after my VERY slow placenta came out (I was curious to see the placenta - I know it's a super neat organ and all that, but YUCK) and it had not really changed in appearance by then either.  I was kind of surprised by how rubbery the cord looked.  Still pretty interesting to look at regardless of the yuck factor I felt.


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  • lola808lola808
    My doula suggested it, but it wasn't a request I felt compelled to include.
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  • redshoegirlredshoegirl member
    My hospital normally waits until it stops pulsing, but with twins (and, as it turned out, a c-section) we didn't have the option. Sad So it's worth checking with your hospital to see if they do this as a matter of course, or if it's something you'd need to request.
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  • vanceandlorivanceandlori
    Very interesting. I hadn't even heard about this, and I have no idea if we delayed or what. Then again, it DEFINITELY wasn't on my mind after giving birth. :- Guess I'll have to ask Vance when he gets home.
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  • inamrainamra member

    imagevanceandlori:
    Very interesting. I hadn't even heard about this, and I have no idea if we delayed or what. Then again, it DEFINITELY wasn't on my mind after giving birth. :- Guess I'll have to ask Vance when he gets home.

    This! Except I've heard of it briefly before and had forgotten about it by the time I gave birth, so I have no idea if ours was delayed or what either. I kinda just let the dr do their thing =)

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  • SirenSongSirenSong

    We waited until the cord stopped pulsing too, with both of our girls. I DID request it and the staff were fine with it.

    I actually have no idea if they benefitted from having it clamped AFTER it stopped pulsing as opposed to before. 

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  • Married2MrWrightMarried2MrWright member

    I had requested delayed clamping but my OB refused.  I didn't fight her on it since she OK'd everything else on our birth plan except that and administering pitocin for stage III (which was moot point since I was induced anyway).  For our next, I will request it again, since I do believe it is beneficial for the baby.  Perhaps she will be informed about the practice by then?  She said she thought it would increase the chances of jaundice, but I think she's misinformed.  It could do that if you "pump/milk" the cord, but if you just let it do it's thing it's not an issue.

    Some women practice lotus births where the placenta and cord are attached to the newborn for hours/days after delivery.  Probably not for me, but interesting none the less:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_birth

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  • MauiWedding08MauiWedding08

    imageredshoegirl:
    My hospital normally waits until it stops pulsing, but with twins (and, as it turned out, a c-section) we didn't have the option. Sad So it's worth checking with your hospital to see if they do this as a matter of course, or if it's something you'd need to request.

    yes, I had checked the box for this on my birth plan but b/c I think the delayed clamping is the norm - or at least the norm with my MW practice - we didn't need to specify or remind them.

    At my hospital we are given a birthplan checklist that has almost every option available plus a place to write in anything that wasn't covered - I think it is super helpful for the nurses b/c since it is streamlined they immediately know where to look if something comes up and I never had to keep reminding each new nurse to check out the plan - they put it on the top page of my file, on the door, and on the monitor screens desk area.

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