Article: Research shows delayed clamping reduces brain bleeds; infections
Here's yet again, even more proof on the benefits of delayed cord clamping, of which I also posted another article where it reduces the chances of anaemia.
:
Trial finds delay in cord clamping protects babies
(as reported in the Courier Mail recently)
A 30 second delay in clamping a premature newborn's umbilical cord protects against bleeding in the brain and infection, groundbreaking new research shows.
The study, which involved 72 babies, could prompt a reassessment of the standard practice of clamping the cord immediately after birth.
Delayed clamping has been shown to increase the volume of blood transferred to the baby from the placenta.
Researchers from the University of Rhode Island, in the US, followed 36 babies assigned to immediate cord clamping and 36 assigned to delayed cord clamping.
All were less than 32 weeks gestation and their prematurity meant they were at increased risk of brain haemorrhage and infection.
In the weeks after birth, 36 percent of the immediate group had suffered bleeding into the brain, compared with 14 per cent of the delayed group.
Nine of the immediate group but none of the delayed group developed infections while in the intensive care.
"It may be that the small amounts of additional blood preterm infants obtain by delaying cord clamping helps to stablise cerebral blood flow and provide additional stem cells to establish adequate immunocompetence" says the report in this month's America Pediatrics journal.
