Hacker News Reader

Comment by skrbjc | Hacker News Reader

It's very healthy for your baby to delay cord clamping as long as possible

Here is more data on delay in cord clamping.

https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-op...

because the placenta continues to perform gas exchange after delivery, sick and preterm infants are likely to benefit most from additional blood volume derived from continued placental transfusion.

Thanks for the tip! At our hospital the standard of care is delayed cord clamping, although it sounds like they wait only a few minutes, not 15+ minutes. It used to be done in ~<1 minute, I guess, so a few minutes is called delayed now. Do you have a good reference recommending to wait “long as possible”?

Wait until all the blood has passed through and the cord is white. Baby will likely be a little jaundiced but if you clamp too early they will have low blood levels. Don't let the hospital staff rush you (they will try). Best to let nature run its course IMO.

Good luck to you and your partner.

Write a birth plan, make the doctor or hospital staff read it and confirm with them they read it. We had told the doctor we wanted delayed cord clamping (not the habit in hk), he acknowledged it despite warning us about jaundice (he was old fashioned). Then during the actual delivery, he completely forgot about it and both of us were too sleep deprived to force the issue.

This is why having a doula is so valuable. She had a clear head and advocated for us. I caught the baby and never would have asked. But the doula knew the correct time to remind the doctor.

> It's very healthy for your baby to delay cord clamping as long as possible

Just wanted to echo, this is really, really, important.

there isn't any evidence that delaying cord clamping for longer than 60 seconds gives the baby more benefits than delaying cord clamping for 30-60 seconds

I feel like someone whose business is freezing cord blood should probably cite some sources when discussing guidelines for delayed cord clamping, which reduces the amount of blood left in the umbilical cord. Honestly, I don't know much about it and you could very well be right, but it seems like a conflict of interest.

Check out the question “ How long should you delay cord clamping?” At

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-you-should-know-abou...

Thanks for the reference! Glad to see I was just being overly cynical.

Also we don’t dislike delayed cord clamping - our parents delay for max two mins! :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com