Have you heard about delayed cord clamping?

Delayed cord clamping is the practise in which the umbilical cord is not cut for at least one minute after the baby is born. However, the longer the cutting of the cord is delayed, the greater the benefits will be for your baby. Many mamas will choose to hold off cutting the cord until it stops pulsating or until it turns white so their baby receives all the remaining blood from the cord. This process can take up to 10 minutes! Amazing, right?!

When the cord is ready to be cut, either your care provider or partner will cut the cord. This is often a significant, symbolic, and special moment for dads so if he is willing to cut it, I highly recommend he does!

When your baby is born, an astounding ⅓ of their blood volume is still outside of their body! But if you delay cord clamping for 90 seconds your baby will receive 60% more blood cells, they will get enough iron to last them through their first year of life (wow!), they get lots of white blood cells to fight off infection, they get stem cells to help repair their little body, and they get lots of antibodies.

Speak to your midwife or doctor about practising delayed cord clamping and be sure to talk about how long you would like to delay it for. Saskatoon practises standardized delayed cord clamping by waiting one minute after delivery. I love that this is practised across our health region! If you are wishing to delay cord clamping for longer than one minute, be sure to specify this in your Birth Preferences.

P.S. How gorgeous is this umbilical cord?! It is still full of blood which is feeding into this sweet newborn baby. 😍