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Childbirth

Anyone any experience of not cutting the cord till placenta is out and baby breast feeding?

14 replies

bluebeach · 16/12/2010 10:40

Just starting to think about my birth plan and have seen a few things about this. It seems really appealing to allow a natural transition of oxygen supply from placenta to breathing. I've also read that breast feeding while the cord is still attached encourages the afterbirth to come out easier.
Anyone any experience of this? And is it something hospitals are happy to do?

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JarethTheGoblinKing · 16/12/2010 10:44

Yep, I did this. On my birth plan it just stated that we wanted to wait until the cord had stopped pulsating until it was cut. It was fine, I had a straightforward birth and so they were happy to do it.

Still had a retained placenta though

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PlentyOfParsnips · 16/12/2010 10:48

I wanted to do this with DS (home birth) but in the event, the cord was too short for him to reach my breast.

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craftynclothy · 16/12/2010 10:55

I didn't cut the cord for 5 days . I had an Independent midwife but transferred into hospital during labour and the NHS midwife was happy about it. Don't know if it made a difference that the IM was with me. Actually the NHS midwife was really interested in it all.

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RhinestoneCowgirl · 16/12/2010 10:55

Similar experience to Parsnips for first baby, but managed it second time round - DD took to bf like a champ, placenta came out quicker I seem to remember. More afterpains tho

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EssieW · 16/12/2010 11:04

Another one with a too short cord here. Also I seem to spend the first hour or so after giving birth not able to do much (blood loss and exhaustion) and haven't managed to breast feed until after that first bit. Second time round placenta came very quickly on 10 mins or so

So put it on the birth plan (on mine both times) but bear in mind that neither baby or you may be up to it!

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PlentyOfParsnips · 16/12/2010 11:10

5 days ? I can't quite picture how that would work. I have this odd image of cradling the baby in one arm and the placenta in the other

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togarama · 16/12/2010 11:22

Yes - we did this. We had an IM at home and it was her standard practice. Pushed the placenta out 5-10 mins after birth. No afterpains and minimal bleeding.

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bluebeach · 16/12/2010 14:17

Thanks for the responses. I'll put it on my plan and then just see how everything goes regarding cord length and exhaustion.
craftynclothy 5 days!!! Wowee thats really something. What was the reason for waiting? I'm really intrigued!

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DuelingFanio · 16/12/2010 14:20

Wow craftynclothy That's a lotus birth?
Never known anyone to do that but it was mentioned in my NCT classes.

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craftynclothy · 16/12/2010 14:32

Yes, it's called a lotus birth. It started off as me wanting to control it all after a bad experience with dd1's birth. Then I ended up booking an IM and the idea had just grown on me.

parsnips we had a bag for the placenta. Also my IM recommended staying in bed for the first week so it didn't really need moved much (just washed each day). We cut it on day 5 cos it was getting in the way a bit when dd1 wanted to cuddle her sister

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PlentyOfParsnips · 16/12/2010 15:53

Wow, never heard of that before. That's great that the hospital let you stick to your plan.

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MoonUnitAlpha · 16/12/2010 15:58

I don't really get the point of a lotus birth - surely it isn't a good idea for the baby to have a rotting placenta attached to it for days? It seems quite unnatural to me.

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sarahbuff · 16/12/2010 16:30

Hi bluebeach, had a homebirth (DD is 4 weeks yesterday) and wanted to wait for cord to stop pulsating before being cut. I felt it was really important as there is a lot of blood still in the placenta at the time of birth which needs to go back to the baby, and as it only takes a couple minutes at most, seemed sensible enough to enjoy cuddles for a few minutes before cutting the cord etc. As it happened, she was born and placed on my tummy, and sort of wiggled her way up to my nipple and chomped on straight away, so I got lovely cuddles and a first feed in with the cord still attached. We didn't know the sex, so then I looked (with the cord still between her legs). After the cord was definitely done pulsing, DH cut it and the placenta came on its own (no injection) about 5 minutes after that. It was a fantastic experience, and I'm so glad I was able to have it the way I hoped for.

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bluebeach · 16/12/2010 22:33

Thanks sarahbuff and congratulations on your new baby!!! It sounds such an amazing experience, I hope I can have one similar to that.