Clamping the umbilical cord – is it necessary?

Date: 2010.07.23 | Category: Post-partum | Tags: cord clamming,cutting umbilical cord but not clamping,newborn umbilical cord,umbilical cord

The third stage of labor, after your baby has been born, is an important part of the birth process. For women who birth in hospitals, the third stages usually begins with clamping and then cutting the umbilical cord that attaches your baby to its placenta. There is a lot of evidence that suggests this premature cord clamping is harmful, and that a delay in the clamping and severing of the cord has a range of benefits. But is clamping the cord a necessity at all?

The birth of the placenta, and how to proceed with the umbilical cord, is certainly something that raises a lot of questions. While I was educating myself about this as part of my preparations for an unassisted homebirth, I learned that separating the baby from its placenta minutes after birth can have several negative effects. As soon as the umbilical cord is cut, the baby is separated from an additional source of oxygen that could play a critical role should the baby be born with breathing difficulties.

Babies whose cords are cut immediately after birth, and before they ceased pulsing, also have a higher incidence of anemia and a lower blood volume compared to babies who are allowed to receive all their placental blood. The benefits of delayed cord clamping have been well documented, and for me, allowing the baby to remain attached to its placenta was an easy decision.

If the umbilical cord remains attached until its stops pulsing and turns white and limp, is it still necessary to clamp the cord before cutting it? The answer is no. When umbilical cord has stopped pulsing, there is no risk of bleeding from the umbilical cord, because it has practically died and no longer serves any purpose. The reason cord clamps are used is that premature cord clamping is common practice. When the cord is not severed prematurely, there is no reason to clamp the cord before cutting it.

In fact, some people choose to leave the cord and the placenta attached to the baby until it naturally comes away from the baby, and have a lotus birth. When you approach the question from this point of view, neither clamping nor cutting the umbilical cord is necessary.

In short – when a baby’s umbilical cord is cut immediately following birth, while it is still active and pulsing, clamping prevents hemorrhage and becomes a medical necessity. After the cords has fulfilled its purpose and has sealed itself off, clamping it becomes redundant.