has anyone talked their doctor into delayed clamping?

[MommyDOK]

I'm just curious if they're ever convinced and what can do it.

My dr agreed to no cefm for my vbac (very rare in st. louis), no cervical exams and everything else I wanted. I didn't make a big deal about cord clamping, but if (L-rd willing) I have another baby, I really want my doc to delay cord clamping.


any ideas? thanks

[jocelyndale]

I'm bringing this up with my OB this next week, actually. I'm going to mention anemia. I have chronic anemia (malabsorption) and my levels are pretty darn low. By waiting for the cord to stop pulsing, there's a greater chance that the baby won't be anemic (or rather, the baby will at least get all the iron there is to be had).

Fortunately, there's a study which seems to back this up. When prevented with good, hard evidence, my OB is pretty darn cool. I don't actually know his position on cord clamping. (bad mom, didn't ask enough questions)

[Novella]

We have written this into every birth plan. Our first three births all took place in the planned hospital, with staff having reviewed our birth plan in advance. Request for delayed cord clamping totally ignored every time!

Last birth (twins) we had read FAR more about this and felt stronger about it than ever. Birthed unexpectedly in unplanned hospital enroute to city. Staff had been faxed birth plan prior to our arrival, but didn't have time to read it. (Attending doc also told us later about how much she HATES birth plans! - Lovely : )

Unfortunately, in all the hub-bub of having to fight with them just to have a natural, spontaneous birth of vertex-footling breech twins, the cord-clamping fell by the way-side. I always regret that in the seconds after delivery, my husband and I are so overcome by everything else going on that we no longer have the wherewithall to order "Stop! Leave it alone!"

If anything would convince any doc, I would imagine it would be the work of retired doctor George M. Morley. The ACOG has also withdrawn the recommendation for immediate cord clamping. Too bad it seems so many docs haven't caught up with that.

[RockStarMom]

I delivered with a CNM and had it written into the birth plan. When the time came, she harassed me about it forever and wanted to clamp it. Of all things, I had no idea they would hassle me about something so basic. : She finally gave up and I got my way.

[Samjm]

We never had an issue at all. We just informed the doc that we wanted to delay and that was all there was to it. No problems at ll.

In fact with my latest birth, baby stayed on my chest for about an hour before the cord was clamped. They left her there, attached while I delivered the placenta, while they repaired my tear and while I nursed baby. She wasn't weighed or assessed till after everything else was done.

[mezzaluna]

in our birth plan we asked for delayed cord cutting... and that was respected, but it was clamped right away. honestly i just didn't think about the fact that clamping wouldn't necessarily happen just right before cutting.

of course there were still advantages to delayed cord cutting - he wasn't whisked away from me - i had him on my belly immediately and he stayed there until i actually needed more medical attention and dh had to take him away. apgars were assessed while he was on me... and he wasn't weighed and wiped off until after we'd hung out and nursed.

but please, please make clear that you also want delayed cord *clamping*

[WinterBaby]

I had a transfer to a hospital from a homebirth during labor with this new baby, so I didn't get to go over things in advance with the OB I got. So I asked for delayed cord clamping while I was pushing, I believe, lol. But she was fine with that, and some minutes after the baby was born, announced that the cord had stopped pulsating, and asked if it would be okay to clamp it then, which I thought was fine. My husband did the cutting bit. Altogether I felt like my wishes were respected even though the OB and I were perfect strangers

[mamabadger]

I've worked as a doula since 1988, and I find delayed CC to be one of the most difficult things to get in a hospital. First, because so many OBs are afraid to leave the cord alone, although there's no consistent reason given. Second, because it's so routine that delivery room staff do it automatically unless the parents remind them right at the moment of birth. All I can suggest is that you have your partner and/or doula keep reminding the doc that you want the cord left alone. Even that might not work. Sorry I can't be more help, since I consider immediate cord clamping to be a very unfortunate and harmful practice.

[Twinklefae]

A friend of mine is due in a week and a half, and when she asked her OB for delayed cord clamping the doctor looked at her like she was crazy and said "But then if I lift the baby onto your chest the blood will run out of the baby and into the placenta"

So some of them have a very long way to go!

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by Twinklefae

A friend of mine is due in a week and a half, and when she asked her OB for delayed cord clamping the doctor looked at her like she was crazy and said "But then if I lift the baby onto your chest the blood will run out of the baby and into the placenta"

I've also heard doctors say the opposite, that if the cord weren't clamped, excessive amounts of blood would flow into the baby's body.

[Shawnee]

My OB says he routinely delays cord clamping, but he had never heard of letting the placenta be birthed before clamping. So on one hand he's great, but on the other hand, how is it possible that he's never heard of lotus birth?

[jocelyndale]

Had my appointment yesterday . . . raised the subject. My OB said that he believes delaying clamping is optimal for all babies in a normal birth process and that he has no problems with it. He said that in my case (chronic anemia, currently very low iron levels), he's absolutely in favor of it, so long as I don't start hemmorhaging.

I can live with that. I'm so happy that I didn't have to argue. He seemed happy that I was aware of the current research on neonatal anemia and delayed clamping (until the cord stops pulsing, up to 10-15 minutes or so). So, I'm just hoping that all goes well.

[philomom]

My cnm didn't give us any fuss at all about waiting. Baby needs all its blood, thank you.

[MommyDOK]

Originally Posted by jocelyndale

Had my appointment yesterday . . . raised the subject. My OB said that he believes delaying clamping is optimal for all babies in a normal birth process and that he has no problems with it. He said that in my case (chronic anemia, currently very low iron levels), he's absolutely in favor of it, so long as I don't start hemmorhaging.

good for you!!!

[wombatclay]

My care provider last time (a family practice doc) didn't see any really significant pros/cons with either immediate OR delayed clamping that would make them suggest one over the other...so they left that decision entirely up to the mama in question and would actually bring the question up and provide the info for the "two sides".

My current care provider (an OB) assumes no clamping unless the family requests it either in advance or at the time of delivery (like if they ask to cut the cord right away or something like that). The only exception is if the cord is too short for mama to nurse easily...then she'll ask to clamp/cut the cord.

So on one hand he's great, but on the other hand, how is it possible that he's never heard of lotus birth?

Even within the natural birth community "lotus birth" is still something of an alternative concept...I'm not surprised a medical professional wouldn't be familiar with it. But it's a good opportunity to provide information if you're really interested in this birth option.

[cfiddlinmama]

With my first hospital birth, the CNM clamped IMMEDIATELY even though I requested delayed. DS was VERY anemic. I just recently learned that was what caused it. : With the second, the (different) CNM said that leaving the cord intact until placental delivery would cause the baby to bleed out into the placenta and cause excessive jaudice. : She did respect my wishes and waited till it stopped pulsing though. She wasn't too happy about it. I wish I had all the fabulous info that's out there so I could have educated her....

[josh&davesmomme]

we had it in our birth plan, our Dr just said to remind her because it's an "automatic" thing normally. Dh also wanted to feel the cord while it was pulsating( also in our birth plan), so when a different Dr came in we kindly reminded her of this ( at this point we weren't sure if she had seen our birth plan) and she said she'd never had this request before but was happy to allow it, barring any emergency, dh was even offered gloves if he wanted ( which he didn't). so when Davey was born he was placed on my belly skin to skin while dh held his pulsing cord in his hand, until it stoped and then it was clamped and cut. we have photos of dh holding the cordDavid's Birth story page

[Synchro246]

I didn't have any problems with the staff respecting waiting until the cord was done pulsing to do anything to it. One nurse tried to talk me out of it because she thought that her accidental UC that had no cord clamping was the reason why her baby was jaundice (did I need to remind her that 50% of all babies will get jaundice? apparently) But other than that one nurse, who was really respectful in her concern, I didn't have any problems.

They didn't mind any of the radical things I wanted to do with the cord/placenta, though they did say they couldn't provide a blender for my placenta smoothie.

[Willowkarr]

Well, all three of my births were doctor led, and I really have no clue when they cut and clamped....I am a LOT more educated this time around and have put it in my birthplan to not clamp and cut until it stops pulsating, my midwife is ok with this...so far, I hope it isn't an automatic response for the nurses at the hospital, cause I don't want to have to be policing them while I am in that new baby rush.

[elanorh]

I brought some articles I'd found as a result of a similar post I'd made on this very board (there's a 2002 article from Pediatrics, for instance) and told the NP that I'd like to discuss it at my next appointment. When I got to the next appointment, the OB had read everything. He said he has no problem with delayed cord clamping, it's simply seldom requested (so, he doesn't offer it up as an option but will do it if requested). I had already talked to the Ped who had no concerns about it.

He told me to make sure it was in my Birth Plan and that I told the nurses about it. And that, he wanted me to know that if there were an emergency and he was concerned about my or baby's safety, he might need to clamp the cord.

No problem at the hospital. The nurses never read the Birth Plan (I labored faster than the nurses thought I would ) - HE was the one who stopped them from giving me Pitocin while we were waiting for my placenta to deliver and the cord to quit pulsing. It was great, it was like he was our watchdog too.

And, he asked me the next day whether I was happy with this birth (I was happy with the previous one, also with him, I just hadn't known about delayed clamping at that point). I told him yes, we are happy. I really LOVE my OB. He's great with me wanting (and doing) NCB, he's pro-bf, pro-cosleeping, no formula samples, etc. When we had our m/c, and Ina was 2 years old, he told me to just make sure we kept nursing as that would help things normalize most quickly.

I think one (largest) key is to have an HCP who respects you and is collaborative in approach, not on a power trip. And then secondarily, provide them with good information and research and ask questions about what they think. If they're in your corner, even if the hospital expects instanct ccing, the doctor or midwife will be able to get what YOU want done.