By JENNY HOPE
The Daily Mail

A short delay in cutting the umbilical cord could improve a newborn’s health, a top doctor has said.


A baby’s cord is usually clamped and cut within a minute of birth to counter the risk of jaundice.

But waiting until three minutes would increase the child’s iron levels and reduce the risk of anaemia, according to Andrew Weeks, a senior lecturer in obstetrics.

He said U.S. research had found that such a delay was most beneficial to premature babies and had no impact on rates of jaundice.

The study - an overview of trials involving 1,900 newborns - showed that delayed clamping only failed to benefit babies whose growth had been restricted.

The rate of early cord-cutting varies around Europe. In Denmark, the figure is only 17 per cent, compared with 75 per cent in Britain and 90 per cent in France.

Dr Weeks said a delay in cutting the cord helped more oxygen-rich blood reach the baby’s lungs. This increases iron levels until the newborn’s own breathing can become fully established.

The expert from the University of Liverpool’s School of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine added: “In normal deliveries, delaying cord-clamping for three minutes with the baby on the mother’s abdomen should not be difficult.

“The situation is a little more complex for babies born by caesarean section, or for those who need support soon after birth.

“Nevertheless, it is these babies who may benefit most from a delay in cord-clamping.”

For them, a policy of “wait a minute” would be pragmatic, Dr Weeks told the British Medical Journal.

“There is now considerable evidence that early cordclamping does not benefit mothers or babies and may even be harmful,” he said.

“In these days of advanced technology, it is surely not beyond us to find a way of keeping the cord intact during the first minute of neonatal resuscitation.”

He said the World Health Organisation no longer advocated early cord-cutting. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says there are no UK guidelines.

Its spokesman, Patrick O’Brien, a consultant obstetrician, said the U.S. research will be considered.

“It is possible it could change current practice. The jury has been out for over a decade while we have been waiting for definitive research.

“Premature babies would benefit most from a delay in cord-clamping, but all babies might get some benefit. But we would still have to be careful about growth-restricted babies and mothers who have had a caesarean section who would be bleeding for three minutes.”

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