Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cutting Umbilical Cord Early Eliminates Stem Cells

Posted by timothy on from the just-leave-it-on-a-few-years dept.

GeneralSoh writes "Delaying clamping the umbilical cord at birth may have far-reaching benefits for your baby, according to researchers at the University of South Florida's Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair — and should be delayed for at least a few minutes longer after birth. This new recommendation published in the most recent Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (14:3) notes that delaying clamping the umbilical cord allows more umbilical cord blood and crucial stem cells to transfer from mama to baby."

5 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. How will they know when to cut it? by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is there an upload progress bar on the umbilical cord?

    1. Re:How will they know when to cut it? by crow · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, there is. It will stop pulsing. I've heard of cases where the baby was having trouble breathing, so they kept it going for half an hour until the breathing was right. As long as the cord is pulsing, the baby is still getting everything he needs through it. In most cases, the cord will shut down on its own in a minute or two.

    2. Re:How will they know when to cut it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
      No - it has its own pulse - there is no direct connection of the maternal/foetal blood vessels.

      And I held and cut my own kids' cords - home births both of them, and the midwife said to leave clamping & cutting until the cord stopped pulsing, so I had to hold the cord until I felt it stop.

      Surprisingly tough, too - it's like a rope of three blood vessels strengthened with gristle.

  2. Also: Jaundice! by LanMan04 · · Score: 5, Informative

    When my son was born a few years ago, the Doc didn't clamp the cord very quickly. Our baby also ended with a pretty decent case of jaundice and had to be under the "bili lights" for a few days, extending our hospital stay.

    This can sometimes happen when the baby gets a big dose of red blood cells because he's a lot lower than the placenta (gravity) or because the cord isn't clamped very quickly. All those red blood cells die in a day or two, baby cannot break down/metabolize the dead RBCs correctly, and POOF, jaundice.

    Just be careful. Jaundice can cause pleasant things like brain damage in neonates (due to immature blood/brain barrier).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilirubin#Toxicity
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernicterus

    --
    With the first link, the chain is forged.
  3. Re:ORLY? by Lobachevsky · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't know, I think newborns should be exposed to the free market system. If they cannot offer goods and services, they must not receive them. Providing free food, free shelter, and free healthcare to newborns is a slippery slope to a welfare state. /s