Optimal Cord Clamping

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It’s not cord blood, its baby’s blood that is in the cord. It is so precious that we consider saving it in the “bank” for the future, but then in order to prevent babies getting jaundice we cut the cord immediately and inhibit this precious blood getting into your baby’s body.

What a pity! We do this mostly not even to do the baby good but because “we have always done this before” and not even with thinking because the evidence base tells us that it does more harm than good. Instead of listening and reading the facts we just cut the cord, throw away the blood we could save in the baby and substitute iron for 6 months.

Imagine what could happen if the doctors told the same mothers “we will draw X ml of your baby’s blood in order to prevent jaundice and that is why you have to give iron for 6 months”. Oh the evidence base says it isn’t preventing jaundice at all but ….whatever! we have always done this and we will do it anyway. You will be in post-partum euphoria ….. You won’t even notice!

Sema OzerObstetrician Turkey

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Amanda has campaigned tirelessly for every baby possible to receive the benefits of waiting for white. The irony is, that she should not have had to campaign at all for something for which the evidence of benefits are so strong. Nor should anyone have to fight so hard simply for clinicians NOT to do something, and to exercise just a few moments of patience. There has never been any indication, evidence, or rational reason for the immediate clamping and cutting of umbilical cords, and yet the evidence for the benefits of waiting continues to stack up. I’m hopeful for a time when all babies globally are given this simple, cost-free advantage - a time which is long overdue.

Milli HillAuthor and Founder of the Positive Birth Movement

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Don't cut the cord until it has finished pumping the blood into the child .anything less is blatant child abuse and totally against the human rights of the child. Babies need this blood.

Karen NicholsParent

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Late cord clamping provides the appropriate time for delivery of fetal blood in the placenta to the baby during delivery. Thanks to this delay, the volume of blood passed to the baby can be increased by 40%. The benefits of increased blood volume to the newborn, haemoglobin values, iron stores are more, and thus better cardiopulmonary circulation.

Professor Nezihe BejiBiruni University Istanbul

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"Clamping of the umbilical cord should be done in earth time, not mechanical time."

Sheila Kitzinger

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"No other species of Mammal immediately separates their young from the umbilical cord and placenta. It is cruel and medically counter indicated. I believe that anyone who deprives a newborn of their natural blood supply is a criminal. It’s time to stop the harmful practice of quickly clamping and cutting the umbilical cords of human babies."

Robin LimGrandmother Midwife, Bali, Indonesia 2019 author of Placenta the Forgotten Chakra.

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The practice of premature cord clamping was introduced to meet the needs of the medical industry. We now have extensive evidence demonstrating the harm caused by this unnecessary and widespread intervention. Amanda is committed to raising awareness about this issue and ensuring parents and care providers are informed. Ultimately, Amanda is helping to change practice and improve the health of newborns.

Dr Rachel ReedMidwife Thinking

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"Another thing very injurious to the child is the tying and cutting of the navel string too soon, which should always be left till the child has not only repeatedly breathed but till all pulsation in the cord ceases. Otherwise the child is much weaker than it ought to be, a part of the blood being left in the placenta which ought to have been in the child. At the same time the placenta does not so naturally collapse, and withdraw itself from the sides of the uterus, and is not therefore removed with so much safety and certainty".

Erasmus Darwin - 1796

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"Frequently the child appears to be born dead or it is feeble but before the tying of the cord, a flux of blood occurs into the cord and adjacent parts.

Some nurses squeeze the blood back out of the cord, into the baby’s body and at once the baby, who had previously been as if drained of blood, comes to life again".

Aristotle - 300BC

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"Optimal Cord Clamping. Saving the world, one baby at a time."

Annie BarnesAustralian RM MSc

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Early cord clamping was born not from sound scientific evidence, but through convenience for practitioners, to the detriment of babies and mothers. How is it that an intervention that directly harms infants is not actively abolished is astounding. In 2019 when health professionals are about evidenced based practice, we need sound policies from the topmost levels and educational programs to ensure the infants are given the optimal start they deserve. Amanda has been a leading voice advocating for babies and as my sister in midwifery, I fully support her campaign.

Rachael Austin AustraliaAuthor of "Feeding Baby: A Definitive Guide to the Science and Wisdom of Infant Feeding Choices"

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To keep the cord intact, we have the science. We have the instincts. We have all the knowledge we need to leave an infant’s placenta alone without any harmful consequences whatsoever. Now, what will it take to change the hospital practice worldwide?

Gloria Lemay

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مرحبا بك صديقتنا أمندا برليغ، أود أن أهنئك ببعث موقعك الجديد على الواب سات و هذا من شأنه أن يعرف بمجهوداتك المبذولة من أجل تعميم طريقة القطع المتأخر للحبل السري عند الولادة لما له من فوائد عظيمة على صحة المولود الجديد و يجعل من هذه الممارسة عادة معمول بها بصفة روتينية عند كل ولادة كما أعجبني شعارك " انتظر الحبل السري حتى يصبح أبيضا " أي خاليا من كافة الدم الموجود فيه و الذي انتقل بكامله لجسم المولود الجديد. أرجو لك المزيد من النجاح في أعمالك و ننتظر منك زيارة ثانية لتونس و ذلك لمزيد التعريف بمشروعك و لتبادل الخبرات.

Saaida FrayouTunisian Midwife - Tunisian Association of Midwifery and Art of Birth - TAMAB

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Why it is that, when a newborn baby needs some help, the first thing we do is to cut off their existing oxygen supply by clamping and cutting the cord?

I truly cannot think of any other medical emergency situation in which the permanent severing of the one route by which a compromised person was successfully receiving oxygen would be seen as the right thing to do…"

Dr Sara Wickham