Did you know that much of your baby’s blood is outside of it’s body at the moment of birth? And, that in the United States and Europe, this blood will never make it to your child?
You read that right, the umbilical cord in most births in 1st-world nations is cut before your baby has received all of their blood. The result is that your baby is deprived of precious early-life resources that could allow your child to flourish.
In fact, one third of a newborn’s blood is still in the placenta and umbilical cord at birth. I suggest waiting until the pulsing of the cord is slowing to a stop – often only about 90 seconds longer than conventional medical practice allows for.
If the cord is clamped too soon, before it stops pumping, your child can miss out on 60% of its red blood cells, additional iron, stem cells, white blood cells and much more. These are the ingredients that support your bundle of joy developing healthy bodily functions, intelligence, resistance to infection – the list goes on.
Even more incredible is how remarkably simple it is to prevent the loss of this biological gold mine for your new baby. Watch the video below, where I talk about exactly how our generation can tackle this problem – starting today.
TICC TOCC
We’ve started a campaign to spread this message, called TICC TOCC – Transitioning Immediate Cord Clamping to Optimal Cord Clamping. To learn more about it, watch my talk at TEDxBrussels (scroll that page for video).
If you know someone who is pregnant, please share this message with them. It will make a world of difference in the life of their young ones.
In the comments below, share with us some ideas you have about how we can spread this message.
This is super powerful stuff, and the best part is it’s amazingly simple.
How can you help make optimal cord clamping a reality?
Efrat
What about Polycythemia and Neonatal jaundice in cases of TOCC?
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Dr. Alan Greene
Wonderful question, Efrat. And good news!
Polcythemia (too many red blood cells in the baby), neonatal jaundice, and bleeding in the mother are the three main reasons people have been concerned about Optimal Cord Clamping. The Cochrane Group has analyzed the results of 15 different trials comparing early and optimal cord clamping. They found no difference in polycythemia between the two groups. And there was no increase in hemorrhage or total blood loss in the mothers who had optimal cord clamping. And the rate of jaundice in the two groups was also the same.
There was however a slight difference in the number whose jaundice level was high enough to need phototherapy, with 1.62% more needing phototherapy who had optimal cord clamping.
For this reason, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology published guidelines in 2017 recommending delaying at least 30 to 60 seconds for vigorous term and preterm infants. The many benefits far outweigh the risks.
Best,
@DrGreene
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Mustafa
You know, that’s a good explanation. I mean, if you want to be tcecnihal you could explain how humans are mammals and point out all sorts of things, but I don’t think a three year old and seven year old would get that.To be honest, if you don’t feel like you’re being inappropriate about such things, you might simply show them how a baby feeds. I’m not going so far as to suggest letting them try now that they’re too old, but this is a perfectly natural process you are supposed to go through. Get a bottle and their little brother, while he’s in a good mood, and have them spend a little time playing with him, and talk to them as you cuddle and play with baby, and ask them if they see how he doesn’t have teeth to chew things like they do, and can’t pick himself up or anything, and needs other people to be very gentle and hold him and take care of him because he’s so little.Then, tell them that in nature, a lot of mommies, like doggie and cat mommies (and you don’t have to go far to find one of those in the middle of nursing, either in a nature special or in real life), have special parts on them to make food for little babies so mommies can feed them when they’re that small, made just for babies and that people are just like that, too. Show them the bottle and explain to them how we have to take milk and put it in a bottle that’s made to imitate the natural way mommies feed babies, so we can make sure babies can eat when mommies might not be able to feed them, but since you’re here, you don’t need a bottle to feed him because you can do it yourself just like mommies are supposed to do for little babies until they get big and strong enough to feed themselves, just like you’re so proud your other son and daughter can do (being proud of them for being able to feed themselves makes them feel good for growing up and being big boys and girls, so they don’t have to feel bad you don’t feed them that way any more).I don’t see any reason, after that, to make them leave, or hide from them, if you’re feeding your youngest son. Not to sound crude, but your breasts weren’t made for your husband’s amusement (even if that’s often what they’re used for). They were made to feed your infant children, and in that regard there is no reason you should feel the need to be ashamed or hide doing that. It’s not only natural, it’s an integral part of being a good parent, and I can’t think of a reason that isn’t, in the end, counterproductive to hide your need to be a good mother.The only thing spurning their curiosity is going to do is either make them more curious, or make them feel ashamed of themselves. The easiest way to make them comfortable with the idea that mommy feeds their little brother that way, for the time being, is to simply be comfortable feeding him while they’re there. Children do look to mommy and daddy for a lot of guidance, and take their cues from them on how they should often feel about situations. If you feel happy and contented with what you are doing, chances are they’ll feel that way, too.Once they understand what’s going on, they’ll generally ignore the activity in favor of something more interesting, or at worst want to join in taking care of the baby and you can certainly find age appropriate things for them to do in that regard to help them bond with their younger brother and not go through the standard he’s taking all the attention away from me phase.It’s a great segue into what families are about, how mommies and daddies each do different things to help take care of everyone (because this is also a very good way to help your children understand that daddy doesn’t love them any less than you do or care for them any less because he leaves it’s exactly because he loves them so much he goes to work when he might really like to stay home and play with them, because he needs to make sure they have a nice house, and all the toys they want to play with, and all the food they need to eat, etc), and how they are important as brothers and sisters.
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Lisa Uchida
Dr. Greene, is this possible with a c-section? Expecting twins. Just feel it would be beneficial (should they be smaller than average) to have this extra blood but so far one midwife at the hospital has said we can’t wait.
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