Delayed cord clamping is something that not a lot of people know that much about, or have even considered. Turns out, the standard practice of cutting the cord right away may not be such a hot idea. Educate yourself and if the logic behind waiting makes sense to you, make sure you find a practitioner who shares this view. I’ve worked with women who have asked their ob/gyn at the time of the birth to wait to cut the cord and honestly I haven’t seen it go that well. The ob/gyn author of the linked article describes the typical scenario perfectly:
For the majority of my career, I routinely clamped and cut the umbilical cord as soon as it was reasonable. Occasionally a patient would want me to wait to clamp and cut for some arbitrary amount of time, and I would wait, but in my mind this was just humoring the patient and keeping good relations. After all, I had seen all my attendings and upper level residents clamp and cut right away, so it must be the right thing, right?
Luckily the author was open to another point of view and is now sharing it with others. The article is well-researched and definitely worth a read, enjoy!

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the linkup! The issue is a good one and with a little work it may be possible to change general practice.
Nicholas Fogelson, MD
Thank you, Nicholas. I enjoy your blog and am appreciative of your perspective.