Delayed Versus Early Umbilical Cord Clamping

Immediate cord clamping is a part of the active management of the third stage of labor. Active management is standard birth protocol because it significantly reduces the risk of maternal postpartum hemorrhaging. However, since recent evidence advocates delayed cord clamping, various medical practitioners and health organizations would like to incorporate delayed cord clamping in place of immediate cord clamping as a part of standard birth protocol. Proposed benefits include a serious decline in the prevalence of anemia, especially, in countries where anemia is endemic, as well as a decrease in the risk of intraventricular hemorrhage and late onset sepsis. Although these advantages are significant and very important, there are concerns associated with increased risks such as neonatal jaundice, polycythemia, and maternal postpartum hemorrhage. In order to come to a conclusion, researchers and professionals must calculate the risks versus the benefits of delayed cord clamping based on numerous experiments and randomized controlled trials. Based on the latest research data in the postnatal health arena, delayed cord clamping is a beneficial and risk free technique to manage the umbilical cord for the first few minutes in healthy neonates