A new study says that delayed umbilical cord clamping or giving babies extra minutes attached to the umbilical cord at birth may benefit neurodevelopment of babies in later years. Apparently, the researchers found out that children whose cords were but more than three minutes after birth showed higher social and fine motor skills than those whose cords were cut immediately.
However, the study shows that it does not give any difference in the IQ of the babies, NPR News reports. Dr. Heike Rabe, a neonatologist at Brighton & Sussex Medical School in the United Kingdom, "There is growing evidence from a number of studies that all infants, those born at term and those born early, benefit from receiving extra blood from the placenta at birth."
According to experts, when the clamping of the cord is delayed, it allows for more blood to be transferred from the placenta to the infant. This would increase the blood volume of the baby and it will allow for antibodies to be present in the infant's system. The iron content of the blood would increase the iron storage of the baby which is important to promote brain development.
According to the study, the lead researcher, Dr. Ola Andersson of Uppsala University in Sweden and colleagues were able to assess around 263 children. They were divided into two groups wherein 141 of them were allowed to be given three minutes before their umbilical cord were clamped.
They followed the infants until they were four years old. Writing in the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the authors commented as reported by NBC News, "Delaying cord clamping for three minutes after delivery resulted in similar overall neurodevelopment and behavior among 4-year-old children compared with early cord clamping."
However, the World Health Organization has already recommended delaying cord clamping for at least one minute after birth. This study is one of the many which aim to give optimal blood supply for the baby. The blood from the umbilical cord may seem too little for the baby but it encompasses many health benefits and it may mean a lot for the baby's brain development.
