Better to cut the umbilical cord later

Swedish researchers found that the delay in cutting the umbilical cord of a newborn can go in his favor. It reduces the risk of subsequent development of iron deficiency in the body of the baby.

Recently, in many western hospitals young mothers have been asking midwives to postpone cutting of the umbilical cord   in newborns, to allow more blood to pass through the placenta to the baby. It started after some media published articles about the benefits of this approach. Researchers at the Swedish Hospital of Holland in Halmstad convinced that it is not only safe, but also beneficial to the child's health, and therefore should go into wide medical practice.

During observations, researchers have detained 400 newborns cutting the cord   more than three minutes, or cut it within 10 seconds after birth. Four months later, all the children was measured by the level of iron in the body. The children of the first group had the highest levels of iron, and its deficiency had less than 1% of children. Children in the second group, which cut the umbilical cord immediately, iron deficiency   there was 6%.

" Iron deficiency   even without anemia associated with impaired development of infants, - says one of the authors of the study, Dr. Ola Andersson. - Our results suggest that the delay in cutting the umbilical cord is good for the babies, even living in areas where iron deficiency is rare. Therefore, the practice, in our opinion, should be introduced as standard in labor after an uncomplicated pregnancy. "

Healthy Child

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