Delayed clamping of the umbilical cord could reduce the mortality risk for premature babies, according to a new analysis.
Infants born before 37 weeks can develop problems with major organs and have a raised mortality. They may need blood transfusions and medications to strengthen the heart and stabilise blood pressure.
A team of researchers from Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK, carried out a review of delayed cord clamping or umbilical cord milking (squeezing) on outcomes for babies born before 37 weeks’ gestation.
Delayed clamping for up to three minutes allows continuing blood flow between the mother and baby and can boost the infant’s blood volume.
Professor Heike Rabe and colleagues analysed 40 previous studies from around the world covering 4,884 infants. Although the evidence was insufficient to be certain, it suggested that delayed cord clamping reduced mortality before discharge from hospital by 27%, compared with standard early cord clamping. It may also reduce rates of bleeding in the brain.
Professor Rabe said: “Our study found that delayed, rather than early, cord clamping may reduce the risk of death before discharge for babies born preterm. As there have only been a few studies that follow babies for health outcomes in early childhood to date and there is insufficient evidence for reliable conclusions on providing immediate care for the baby beside the mother with the cord intact, immediate neonatal care with the cord intact requires further study.”
They add that future trials could compare the impact on health outcomes of different lengths of delay.
The findings appeared recently in Cochrane Systematic Review.
Rabe, H. et al. Effect of timing of umbilical cord clamping and other strategies to influence placental transfusion at preterm birth on maternal and infant outcomes. Cochrane Systematic Review 17 September 2019 doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003248.pub4
Leave a Reply