Delayed Cord Clamping?

As you know, parenting your newborn begins at conception.  The choices for your child’s health and wellbeing are numerous while in utero and increase exponentially at birth!  One of the choices you get to make immediately after birth is whether or not to delay the clamping your newborns’ umbilical cord?

The placenta miraculously oversees all of baby’s needs in utero until it detaches from the uterus after baby is born. Up until the placenta detaches the umbilical cord carries all of the messages to and from baby’s body. I consider there to be an ongoing conversation between the placenta and baby’s body – the umbilical cord keeps the conversation going. Clamping and cutting the cord at birth before the placenta detaches i.e. without waiting for the conversation to be completed, may deprive baby of blood, nutrients, hormones and much more. Several studies support delaying cord clamping for at least 3 minutes, if not until the placenta is detached.

Here is a link to article by on OB on the subject.

http://academicobgyn.com/2009/12/03/delayed-cord-clamping-should-be-standard-practice-in-obstetrics/