How long does the cord pulse?

[eenywifemum]

I am trying to write out my birth plan and have to decide if I want to wait until the cord stops pulsing before it gets cut. Can anybody tell me how long the cord pulses after the baby is delivered? Thanks very much!

Not long. Better for baby if you leave it.

That depends from baby to baby but you allow your baby to get up to 40% more blood that way. It's ideal for the baby

Actually it can be 3 mins or 15 mins... so it really varies. Time flies though as you are cuddling your baby!

I would prefer to leave it... I was just worried it was a very long time? I have all these baby books and none of them say!

I left mine to pulse before it was cut, but I have absolutely no idea how long it took - I was too busy adoring my new baby! I don't think it was terribly long though, and not painful or freaky at all. I can honestly say I just didn't notice!

eeny, I found a video of just after the birth of the baby recently and found that it didn't match up to my memories of the event. Primarily, time was very distorted. So me & dp were amazed when we watched it at how long it took before he cut the cord after it stopped pulsing...in our memories it was only a couple of minutes but in reality it was over 15 minutes (although it may have stopped pulsing before that, admittedly). Time really does fly by in those first moments so I don't think you need to worry about hanging around for it.

Rubles & Littlefish and all, Thanks very much for posting, you've put my mind at rest. I wrote my birth plan and included in it that I would like to wait until the cord stops pulsing before it is cut. Now I just can't wait for the actual event!!!

Hope the birth goes well eeny.

Thanks Littlefish!! Me too I am starting to get organised with the birth plan, sorting what I need for the labour bag etc. It's lovely, I can't wait to have him.