Squeezing the cord to get the blood out?

[NoraB]

I spoke to my OB about delayed cord clamping. She says that she doesn't clamp the cord right away in a normal delivery (I didn't even argue why delayed clamping would be especially important for a baby w/ respiratory distress) but that she does squeeze the cord to get "as much blood as possible" into the baby. I'm happy she isn't into immediate cord clamping and I won't have to argue about that, but I'm not too sure I like the sound of squeezing the cord.

Does anybody have any info or advice about this?

TIA

[Diane~Alena]

My Aunt inlaw tells stories about how her son had this done to him at birth. She says that the midwife she had was the best ever and even had her deliver a breech 10 pound baby with no tearing or complicatins. She explained the cord squeezing as milking it to get all the best blood into baby and not letting it be wasted. Hope that helps.

[orangebird]

I've heard of milking the cord but don't know enough information really to say if I think it is good or not. Personally it doesn't sit right with me for some reason, I would ask my doc or midwife not to do it. I would ask they just leave the cord alone until it is finished pulsing at minimum. I think it is better to leave it longer than that, until the placenta has been delivered at least. I think it continues to function even after you are able to feel the pulses going through it.

[stafl]

I've read somewhere that it is the cord milking, rather than the delayed clamping that increases baby's chance of becoming jaundiced... but can't remember where I read it. Maybe at www.cordclamping.com ???
We didn't clamp DD2's cord at all, just cut it once the placenta was delivered. It barely had any blood left in it anyway, and midwife had to really squeeze hard to get one tiny drop for blood typing (I'm rh neg and refused rhogam unless baby tested with rh positive blood type). DD1's cord was cut and milked as soon as they pulled her out of the gash in my belly, and she had severe jaundice, that is why I remember reading that about a possible connection.

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by stafl

I've read somewhere that it is the cord milking, rather than the delayed clamping that increases baby's chance of becoming jaundiced... but can't remember where I read it. Maybe at www.cordclamping.com ???
We didn't clamp DD2's cord at all, just cut it once the placenta was delivered. It barely had any blood left in it anyway, and midwife had to really squeeze hard to get one tiny drop for blood typing (I'm rh neg and refused rhogam unless baby tested with rh positive blood type). DD1's cord was cut and milked as soon as they pulled her out of the gash in my belly, and she had severe jaundice, that is why I remember reading that about a possible connection.

This rings true with me too, but I also don't remember where I've seen this. Jaundice is caused by excess billirubin, which is a component of red blood cells. The baby doesn't need 'all that blood' necessarily, so it has to break it down and it ends up with excess billirubin, causing jaundice.

The best thing to do is to let the cord stop pulsing on its own, that way the baby and your system can work out naturally where the blood shoudl go. More blood is not necessarily better.

[NoraB]

Eek about the jaundice! My DD was jaundiced and apparantly all my children will have a slightly higher risk than average of jaundice b/c my DH is of asian decent. I will definitely do more investigation at the very least.

[TiredX2]

I have not been investigating birth issues for a few years (my youngest & last is 3.5) but I remember reading that milking the cord was BAD, BAD, BAD.

[pamamidwife]

Just wanted to point out that jaundice in and of itself is NOT a problem. It's a very, very rare case that jaundice leads to serious brain damage or other issues.

There are two arteries and one vein in the umbilical cord. Two arteries carry blood away from the baby, one carries blood to the baby. It's a finely developed system that nature/God/Goddess developed. Cutting it before the placenta is born, or milking it, overrides the natural flow of blood to and from the baby. It's just not necessary.

It's one of a million reasons why I would never see a surgeon/OB for a normal birth. There will always be some excuse as to why the cord would need to be cut right away. Even then, delayed clamping to hospital providers means constantly touching it to see if it's "stopped pulsing" (which messes with the natural process) - and it doesn't stop pulsing really until long after the placenta is born.

Doctors think that their shiny instruments work better than nature. They have got it way wrong.