The umbilical cord links the placenta to your baby. For a few minutes after your baby has been born, the umbilical cord keeps working.
When your baby has been born, if they are well, it is recommended that the cord isn’t cut for at least 60 seconds, or until the cord stops pulsating.
This lets your baby get the optimum amount of blood from the placenta. The umbilical cord is still taking blood, oxygen, and stem cells to your baby. We leave the cord intact for a minute or more while they get used to being outside of the womb and using their lungs to get oxygen.
The blood the baby takes from the cord in this time has lots of red cells that help take oxygen from the lungs to the heart and brain. The stem cells it delivers help to repair damaged tissues. Clamping too quickly stops these from getting to your baby.
Optimal cord clamping is also known as delayed cord clamping. It means waiting until the cord has stopped pulsating and has turned white. This means all the blood has gone into the baby’s system.
If you have help to deliver the placenta after giving birth, you can still have optimal cord clamping.
