Why??

[jellybean88]

I've been reading a lot of birth stories and have come across a few accidentally at home or somewhere else ones and they call emergency and get told to tie off cord with something nearby... Why people leave it to pulse and even lotus birth so why don't they just say wait till we get there and we will tie and cut ourselves ??

[PumpkinZulu]

Because that's all they've been taught I assume, like most OB's.

[willow5]

Personal frustration of mine too Jellybean!! Drives me nuts, but then even if you birth in a hospital and you want to do 'delayed' cord lamping you need to have made that clear in a birth plan and express your wishes to the doctors and midwives present. It's not usually part of standard procedure, so like what PZ said it's what they're taught

[jellybean88]

I just think it doesn't harm the mother or baby bit to tie it so why do it urgently with a dodgy shoelace when it can be done later with a clean tie or clip later on like you wouldn't have enough things to think and worry about with an unexpected birth

[willow5]

I think they were taught years ago it's bad for the blood to pass through after the birth. Sorry baby brain can't remember the exact reason why, but I'd say it's let over from that. I agree silly to do it early at all let alone with something dodgy. They should now be taught it's beneficial for the baby to receive all of it's blood from the placenta.

[Traveller]

yeah this annoys me too. It's much safer to leave the cord intact if you have nothing sterile to cut it with, and there's no need to cut it anyway.

[nickle730]

Cutting the cord provides stimulation for a neonate to breathe, it is for this reason you will be advised to cut the cord if you call 000. Tactile stimulation is also used to stimulate breathing, so a fairly firm rubdown with a towel (or t-shirt!) is recommended in a neonate with a delayed onset of respiration. If your baby is delivered and starts to breathe spontaneously (a cry is a good indicator), there is no need to cut the cord with a dodgy pair of dirty scissors. If your baby is flat (has a poor APGAR) and does not breathe spontaneously, you should give bub a rub down and clamp the cord. If bub still does not breathe, you need to commence EAR/CPR.

Incidentally, there is little risk of infection from cutting or clamping the cord with materials which are not sterile as there is no blood flow through the cord once it is clamped. The cord will be clamped and trimmed by the ambo's when they arrive.

[xXHopeXx]

Cutting the cord provides stimulation for a neonate to breathe, it is for this reason you will be advised to cut the cord if you call 000. Tactile stimulation is also used to stimulate breathing, so a fairly firm rubdown with a towel (or t-shirt!) is recommended in a neonate with a delayed onset of respiration. If your baby is delivered and starts to breathe spontaneously (a cry is a good indicator), there is no need to cut the cord with a dodgy pair of dirty scissors. If your baby is flat (has a poor APGAR) and does not breathe spontaneously, you should give bub a rub down and clamp the cord. If bub still does not breathe, you need to commence EAR/CPR.

Incidentally, there is little risk of infection from cutting or clamping the cord with materials which are not sterile as there is no blood flow through the cord once it is clamped. The cord will be clamped and trimmed by the ambo's when they arrive.

I'd be inclined to go with this answer too, but also just the "western" way of thinking in that everything needs to be medically managed and can't be left to nature. Lol.

Interestingly enough DH was taught by work (he's a paramedic) to do delayed cord clamping (I.e. waiting til it stops pulsating or longer) as the docs and people who put together the protocols and such have found a big enough benefit in it that the feel the need for their employees to do it.

[Frangipani Lou]

Incidentally Monash Birth Centre in Melbourne have delayed clamping as standard practice.

[~TT40~]

at a hosptial I use to work at, there would only be 1 midwife on shift, if you were lucky. sometimes the midwives were on call, so if a woman came in in labour they would call the midwife, but if she didn't make it in time there was a folder aimed at nurses so they had a proceedure and policy to follow for maternal emergencys when no midwife was present (including birth). It was actually reassuring to see that in that there was nothing at all about cutting the cord or giving syntocinon. basically it was the policy to keep it all intact until the midwife arrived. it surprises me that 000 (is that who you are talking about?) say to cut the cord.

[Chrispe]

A friend of mine who ended up birthing in her car on the way to the hospital was told not to clamp the cord as the staff at the hospital would do it when she arrived.

[Frangipani Lou]

I birthed at home 4 weeks ago because DD came so fast we didn't have time to go anywhere! DP was instructed in the birth by a lovely 000 operator. The Ambo's arrived 3 mins after DD was born and they clamped the cord and DP cut it.
What a brilliant birth!!

[HotI]

Cutting the cord provides stimulation for a neonate to breathe

By removing their oxygen source prematurely. If baby is flat it is even more important that they remain attached to their cord and life source.

Are you a medico?

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I was advised to leave DD's, it was long enough to reach me, the ambo's got there about 5min after she was out, they checked her over then clamped and cut the cord.
Our operator never advised to cut or clamp the cord.

[Indadhanu]

One of the dads at my work is an ambo, and we were joking about me having an accidental homebirth and him attending, and then the conversation turned serious and he said the best piece of advice is to leave the cord alone, don't handle it too much beause that seems to slow down the blood flow through it (it will naturally slow down anyway but handling apparently slows it down faster?) since while it is still pulsating the baby is still getting oxygenated blood, which is important if bub doesn't breathe straight away and resusitation equipment hasn't arrived. It's also just easier to leave it than risk using something dirty to tie/cut it, and potentially cause infection. And just for future reference for anyone (lol) tickling, stimulating the feet and holding bub face down and rubbing the back and gently stretching the baby's shoulders back and forth (really gently!) can also be used to stimulate breathing, so he said
So I find it really interesting that the emergency call operator people tell people to tie it off, when it obviously seems like common knowledge to ambos to just leave it except in exceptional circumstances.

[jellybean88]

I'd say they must have been American 911 birth stories I wonder why they don't do it as standard practice in normal hospitals if the ambulance service is thinking its a good thing I was looking at it but seemed to get the vibe its best nit to due to bili levels in baby and increased chance of hemorrhage

[~TT40~]

I'd say they must have been American 911 birth stories I wonder why they don't do it as standard practice in normal hospitals if the ambulance service is thinking its a good thing I was looking at it but seemed to get the vibe its best nit to due to bili levels in baby and increased chance of hemorrhage

babies get jaundice due to high bili levels. they have 3x (if i did my math right...adults have 1/3 less) as many red bloodcells than they need outside the womb, so have to break down the extras. so more blood into them would lead to more needing to be broken down and therefore a greater chance of becoming jaundice. but the increased o2 supply would outway that risk (for me anyway, some people might disagree).
not sure about the increased hemorrhage...maybe just cause they have more blood....but they would only be at risk of hemorrhage if they a premature, was a really really fast birth (which might be the case as these are unplanned home births), or if they have had intervention like forceps or vacuum (which is hosptial only)

[jellybean88]

I had a fast birth last time