UMBILICAL CORD CARE

Do you remember when your child’s umbilical cord was cut?

Have you ever wondered when is the right time to cut it?

And what if it is not cut?

These are questions that not all moms-to-be think about. These questions don’t even arise in their minds, and there’s nothing to blame here. Come and see how what seems simple at first glance can negatively affect a newborn baby if it’s not organized right.

First of all, let’s tell very stubbornly what is the port, the portal.

We have all been completely dependent on our mothers at some point. That stamp of dependence is our port, and the portal is the cord that connects us to our mother during nine months of pregnancy. It’s like a narrow tube that starts withers from the belly of the developing fetus, reaches up to both remove excrement and supplying baby with sufficient nutrient rich blood and oxygen. All nutrients pass through the umbilical cord which prevents the mother’s blood from mixing with the baby’s blood.

Google will help you to get more detailed information about the umbilical cord.

And now let’s see what WHO says about cutting the portal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends cutting the portal one to three minutes after the baby’s birth, as it helps the newborn to get the last of the blood from the mother, perhaps priceless stock and prevent iron deficiency in the first year. Additionally, within a minute after the baby is born, the baby had 80ml blood and in the following few minutes receives an additional 100 ml.

At this point, the WHO opinion is unambiguous: cutting the portal only one minute after birth is not recommended, it should be done only in case of asphyxia of newborns or in case of immediate rehabilitation.

How are they treated in maternity wards?

Unfortunately, in many maternity wards around the world, including in Armenia, the portal is squeezed and cut almost immediately. It is rare that the portal is cut after three minutes, especially after a pulsation break. Thus, millions of newborns do not receive the necessary blood supply.

Gravity is an important factor for the mother-newborn blood transfusion, so the baby and uterus should be at equal levels. If the baby is simply placed on the mother’s chest, given a few minutes for the end of the pulse, the entire blood supply will be transferred to the child.

Now you will be asking:

What will those dozens of ml of blood give to the newborn?

What are the risks of cutting the portal late for the newborn according to medical protocols?

What are the disadvantages of pressing the portal immediately for the newborn?

What are the risks for a mother in case of cutting the portal late?

And many other questions that we can’t guess, you can write in the comments field.

We will address all these questions in our next posts.

Do you know that the portal may not be cut after several hours?

Have you heard about lotus births?

To be continued