Following on from the 'Do dogs have belly buttons thread' - why do you clamp the cord before you cut it?

[eenysugarplumfairy]

The title says it all really. With human birth why is the cord clamped before its cut? And seriously - do ALL mammels have belly buttons??????

Afaik all mammals have belly buttons. And I have no idea why the cord is clamped but would be interested to know.

me too! My friend said she thought the baby might die if you didnt clamp the cord before cutting?

The cord is clamped because otherwise it bleeds when cut! You don't have to use a clamp though, some people use a kind of tape or little band. I used some embroidery cotton which I'd plaited, and we tied it off using this.

You actually don't have to cut the cord at all! Ever heard of a lotus birth where the placenta is left attached until it naturally separates?!

oh yes I have heard of that!! I read the thread on it ages ago.

Does the blood that the cord WOULD bleed if you didnt clamp it come out of the baby? So would it harm the baby if you cut the cord without clamping it first?

Is it because we hurry things along? If you left things alone I think that all the blood transfers to the baby and then the cord is empty. At which point it would be okay to cut it without making a mess.
I'm willing to be put right on this if I'm wrong

juule you may be right, I dont know. I wanted to wait til the cord stopped pulsing before it was cut when my son was born but we ended up having a birth with a lot of interventions and I had a terrible bleed and when he was born it was all about keeping me and him safe and alive so the cord thing was rushed. still makes me sad.

Well yes, if you wait long enough, the vessels would have closed off and the baby wouldn't bleed from the umbilical arteries when you cut the cord. But we're talking delaying cutting by days, not minutes or hours.

I've had a look on hereAbout umbilical cords and this is how I understand it. The cord is left uncut, the placenta is delivered so no more blood from mum. Wait about 2hrs and then all blood transferred to baby. Cord goes white as the blood has gone from it and the baby's own circulation takes over. The cord can be cut. So a couple of hours? Have I missed anything?

if you don't clamp it - you bleed to death.

is it clamped in lotus birth?
and also, you can leave it to stop pulsating before cutting, so you don;t bleed to death in that time?

natural born mammals the mum chews it off

Even after the cord has gone white though, the vessels may still be partially open. They won't definitely bleed, but I have seen cord stumps bleed a day or two after cutting if the clamp has come off or become loose. I would guess that this would also pose an increased infection risk as you have a direct route to the baby's blood stream.

As I understand it, if you get bleeding from the cord (for whatever reason) it is the baby who looses blood not the mother, as it is fetal blood in the umbilical vessels, not maternal.

When I had DS3 in 1991 the mw forgot to clamp the cord before cutting. You wouldn't believe how far the blood spray goes

she forgot to clamp the cord, bloody hell I bet that was a bit of a shock for both of you.

Well, I think I can add something about what happens with the cord if you don't clamp or cut it - having observed it in my nephew!

First it went white, then gradually it dried out until it went stiff (a bit like beef jerky - sorry if tmi). This happened hours, not days later. By 24 hours after the birth the parents got irritated with this placenta (wrapped in a nappy I hasten to add) hanging around the place and cut it off with scissors. No bleeding or anything else from it. The little stump left fell off a couple if days later iirc.

In most mammals (cows, sheep, horses IME) the cord breaks as the baby is born and the placenta is delivered later. The stump then just dries up (sometimes goes yukky) but obviously they don't bleed to death and it must just rip.

I think (but may be wrong) the reason that the cord is clamped is to stop the syntometrine injection thingy getting to the baby... I seem to remember reading that. Maybe that and to stop it bleeding when it's cut.

Interesting Lotussister (just got your name as I typed that..) I thought about a lotus birth but figured I'd get annoyed with the placenta hanging about - guess keeping it for a day or so still gives the same kind of 'natural' effect