Routine Early Clamping of the Umbilical Cord Harms Newborns.

In hospitals, one of the first procedures done when a new child enters the world is to clamp the umbilical cord, usually within the first 30-60 seconds of birth. It is, in fact, simply a routine procedure done without thinking. Apparently, no thought has ever been given to whether it’s beneficial. Sadly, several studies have shown that it harms newborns.

Cord Clamping One of the Earliest Birth Interventions

In fact, early clamping of the umbilical cord was one of the earliest interventions in modern management of childbirth. It was—and is—done for no particular reason, other than convenience. In the early 1980s, studies showed that the combination of routine hospital childbirth practices, including oxytocin to cause contraction of the uterus when necessary, presumed that, since it was routine, early cord clamping must be beneficial. Now, though, a meta-study has documented that the assumption has harmed countless babies.

Childbirth is a dramatic transfer in function. The mother’s body relinquishes control of the baby’s functions. During the birthing process, the placenta gradually stops pushing blood from the mother to the baby. When everything goes right—as it usually does—a point of equilibrium arises when blood stops flowing from the mother to the baby.

Until that point, the baby needs to receive blood and oxygen from the mother. Premature clamping of the umbilical cord stops the newborn from receiving critical oxygen when he may not be ready to function on his own. Modern medicine’s unconsidered early clamping procedure routinely cuts off oxygen from newborns.

Dangers of Cord Clamping Have Been Ignored

The most telling point of this issue is that, though there have been several studies documenting harm from early umbilical cord clamping, it took a meta-analysis of several studies for any attention to be paid to clear evidence showing harm.

Studies have documented that early clamping results in anemia of newborns. The difference between early clamping and natural cessation of cord blood flow has been established to result in the loss of 21% of the blood that would normally have transferred between mother and child.

Clamping Is Generally Not Needed

In home births, the only reason for clamping an umbilical cord early is necessity. When a cord is wrapped around the neck and impeding birth, it’s necessary. Otherwise, the cord is ignored until it’s clear that birth has been safely established.

In a normal, non-intervention childbirth, the child breathes first, and the cord then stops transferring blood and oxygen. That, though, is ignored when cords are automatically clamped without consideration of the baby’s needs.

The simple fact that no clamping is needed in a normal birth—or even in most abnormal births—is utterly ignored by modern medicine.

Attempts to Justify Early Clamping

To justify early cord clamping, modern medicine postulated…

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