Effects of Early Cord Clamping
Early cord clamping deprives the baby of 54-160 mL of
blood, which represents up to half of a baby's total blood volume at birth.
"Clamping
the cord before the infant's first breath results in blood
being sacrificed from other organs to establish pulmonary perfusion” [blood
supply to the lungs]. Fatality may result if the child is
already hypovolemic [low in blood volume]".
-Morley, G. (1998, July). Cord
closure: Can hasty clamping injure the newborn? OBG Mgmnt:
29-36.
Early clamping has been linked with an extra risk of anemia
in infancy.- Grajeda, R. et
al. (1997). Delayed clamping of the umbilical cord
improves hematological status of Guatemalan infants at 2 mo.
of age. Am J Clin Nutr 65:425-431.
Premature babies who experienced delayed cord clamping--the
delay was only 30 seconds--showed a reduced need for transfusion, less severe breathing
problems, better oxygen levels, and indications of probable improved long-term
outcomes compared with those whose cords were clamped immediately. -Kinmond, S.
et al. (1993). Umbilical cord clamping and preterm infants: A randomized trial.
BMJ 306(6871): 172-175.
Some studies have shown an increased risk of polycythemia
(more red blood cells in the blood) and jaundice when the cord is clamped
later.
Polycythemia may be beneficial in that more red cells mean
more oxygen being delivered to the tissues. The risk that polycythemia will
cause
the blood to become too thick (hyperviscosity syndrome),
which is often used as an argument against delayed cord clamping, seems to be
negligible in healthy babies. -Morley, ibid.
Some evidence shows that the practice of clamping the cord,
which is not practiced by indigenous cultures, contributes both to postpartum
hemorrhage and retained placenta by trapping extra blood
(about 100 mL) within the placenta. This increases
placental bulk, which the uterus
cannot contract efficiently against and which is more
difficult to expel. -Walsh, S. (1968, May 11). Maternal effects of early and
late
clamping of the umbilical cord. The Lancet: 997.
Clamping the cord, especially at an early stage, may also
cause the extra blood trapped within the placenta to be forced back through the
placenta into the mother's blood supply during the third
stage contractions. This feto-maternal transfusion
increases the chance of
future blood group incompatibility problems, which occur
when the current baby's blood enters the mother's bloodstream and causes an
immune reaction that can be reactivated in a subsequent pregnancy,
destroying the baby's blood cells and causing anemia or even death.
-Doolittle, J. & Moritz, C. (1966). Obstet Gynecol
27:529 and Lapido, O. (1971, March 18). Management of the third state of labor
with
particular reference to reduction of feto-maternal
transfusion. BMJ 721-3. ====
The above are excerpts from Sarah Buckley's "A Natural
Approach to the Third Stage of Labor," Midwifery Today Issue 59