My wife and I have researched the benefits of delayed cord clamping and are planning to do it when our first child is born. We mentioned it to our OB today, and although she's very open to it and has had other couples ask to have it done, she said she doesn't really see a benefit to it. She said that when a baby is placed on the mother's chest, gravity would end up forcing the blood in the cord from the baby back to the mother.
I didn't really understand this since it's basically a closed system -- not like raising one end of a garden hose and allowing water to drain out the other end. Plus, the cord is still pulsating, which means it will still be circulating the blood to the baby, right?
Why would she think that simply having the baby on top of the mother would keep the blood flow from reaching the baby? Is she right?
I didn't really understand this since it's basically a closed system -- not like raising one end of a garden hose and allowing water to drain out the other end. Plus, the cord is still pulsating, which means it will still be circulating the blood to the baby, right?
Why would she think that simply having the baby on top of the mother would keep the blood flow from reaching the baby? Is she right?