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If "Clamping Umbilical Cord Prematurely Can Cause Infant Brain Damage" is not shown property. Visit the source link above.
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Are Doctors Causing
Infant Brain Damage by Clamping the Umbilical Cord
Prematurely? |
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Newborn lungs exist in a "compacted state" suitable
for the womb. When the infant is born, the placenta and cord pulse
for up to 20 minutes, delivering a burst of blood volume to the
infant's system. This blood burst is just what is needed for the
lungs of the newborn to expand.
Unfortunately, many hospitals and doctors don't understand the
mechanics of this and are engaging in early umbilical cord clamping
-- often within one minute of birth.
Without the burst of blood from the placenta, the infant suffers a
drop in blood pressure as its lungs fail to open as they should,
creating a chain reaction of effects that can include brain damage
and lung damage. Immediate cord clamping can cause hypotension,
hypovolemia and infant anemia, resulting in cognitive deficits.
Some have even theorized that the rise in autism could be linked at
least in part to early cord clamping.
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When a baby is
born, one of the first procedures performed is the
clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord. In
hospitals, this task is often done before 30 seconds
have elapsed because it’s believed it will reduce the
mother’s risk of excess bleeding and the baby’s risk of
jaundice.
Very often cords are clamped early also to collect cord blood and
cord stem cells to be used for various medical and commercial
purposes.
However, research is increasingly revealing that clamping the
umbilical cord prematurely, before two or even three full minutes
have elapsed, robs your baby of much-needed blood and oxygen.
Today there is absolutely no consensus about the optimal time to
clamp the umbilical cord after birth, yet over 200 years ago in
1801, Erasmus Darwin (Charles Darwin’s grandfather) shared some
wise words on the topic that have been largely overlooked:
"Another thing very injurious to the child, is the
tying and cutting of the navel string too soon; which should always
be left till the child has not only repeatedly breathed but till
all pulsation in the cord ceases.
As otherwise the child is much weaker than it ought to be, a
portion of the blood being left in the placenta, which ought to
have been in the
child."
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Suffocating Baby at
Birth? |
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One of the primary
arguments for delaying cord clamping has to do with the
way a baby breathes just before and after being
born.
Before birth, the baby’s lungs are filled with fluid and very
little blood flows through them; the child receives oxygen from its
mother through the placenta and cord. This placental oxygen supply
continues after the child is born until the lungs are working and
supplying oxygen -- that is, when they are filled with air and all
the blood from the right side of the heart is flowing through
them.
After birth, when the child is crying and pink, the cord vessels
clamp themselves. During this interval between birth and natural
clamping, blood is transfused from the placenta to establish blood
flow through the baby’s lungs. The natural process protects the
baby’s brain by providing a continuous oxygen supply from two
sources until the second source is functioning well.
However, according to George M. Morley, M.B., Ch. B., FACOG of
Cordclamping.com, immediate cord clamping at birth instantly cuts
off the placental oxygen supply and the baby remains asphyxiated
until the lungs function. Blood, which normally would have been
transfused to establish the child's lung circulation, remains
clamped in the placenta, and the child diverts blood from all other
organs to fill the lung blood vessels.
While most full-term babies have enough blood to establish lung
function and prevent brain damage, the process often leaves them
pale and weak. For premature babies, the process can be even more
devastating. And no matter what, immediate cord clamping will cause
some degree of asphyxia and loss of blood volume because it:
1. Completely cuts off the infant brain's oxygen supply
from the placenta before lungs begin to function.
2. Stops placental transfusion -- the transfer of a large volume of
blood (up to 50% increase in total blood volume) that is used
mainly to establish circulation through the baby's lungs to start
them functioning.
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Injuries Related to Immediate Cord
Clamping |
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Keeping valuable
oxygen and blood from an infant by clamping the
umbilical cord prematurely increases the baby’s risk of
brain hemorrhage and breathing problems. It has also
been implicated as a contributing factor to:
•
Autism
•
Cerebral Palsy
• Anemia
• Learning disorders and mental deficiency
• Behavioral disorders
• Respiratory distress
Immediate cord clamping has even been identified as causing brain
injuries that lead to death, according to
Morley.
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Are You Seeking Natural Childbirth
Options? |
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Given the
overwhelming research about the potential harms of
early cord clamping, both the World Health Organization
and the International Federation of Gynecology and
Obstetrics (FIGO) have dropped the practice from their
guidelines.
But it is still widely done in the United States and other
developed countries, especially if you give birth in a hospital
with an obstetrician (specially trained surgeons). This is one of
many reasons why you may want to consider having a midwife deliver
your baby instead.
There is not a single report in the scientific literature that
shows obstetricians to be safer than midwives for low risk or
normal pregnancy and birth. So if you are among the more than 75
percent of all women with a normal pregnancy, the safest birth
attendant for you and your baby is in fact not a doctor but a
midwife or doula.
A midwife will be more accommodating to your wishes, such as
waiting for two to three minutes, or until the umbilical cord has
stopped pulsating, before it is cut. Caesarean rates and use of
other drug and surgical interventions also tend to be lower when
you use a midwife.
One study in the British Medical Journal even found that a
woman’s risk of death during delivery is
three to five times higher during caesarean than a natural
delivery, her risk of hysterectomy four times higher, and her risk
of being admitted to intensive care is two times higher.
Fortunately, there are many excellent resources out there for
anyone who is planning a natural childbirth, including delayed cord
clamping, and here are some to get you started.
Education resources:
• Birthing from Within: An Extraordinary Guide to
Childbirth Preparation by Pam England and Rob Horowitz
• HypnoBirthing: A
Celebration of Life by Marie Mongan
• The Womanly Art
of Breast Feeding by the La
Leche League International
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May
Gaskin
•
Safer Medicine by Dr. Mayer Eisenstein
•
Immaculate Deception II: Myth, Magic, and Birth by Susan
Arms
•
Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan
McCutcheon
• Optimal Foetal Positioning by Jean Sutton
•
Prenatal Parenting by Fred Wirth
Home birth resources:
• The Home Birth Advantage by Dr. Mayer Eisenstein
• Homefirst Health
Services
• www.elvovemd.com
• Check the yellow pages or do a google search for home birth
providers in your area
How to find a midwife, doula, or birth
attendant:
• Doulas of North
America
• Childbirth and Postpartum
Professional Association
• Association of Labor Attendants
and Childbirth Educators
• Midwifery Today
• Hypnobirthing
• BirthLink (Chicago
area)
Waterbirth resources:
• Waterbirth
International
Emotional resources:
•
The Secret Life of the Unborn Child by Dr. Thomas Verny
• Find a local
Energy Tapping
practitioner
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