Cord clamping: to delay or not to delay?

It seems the questions facing pregnant women on what they should eat, how they should behave and what should happen in the delivery room never end.

One day caffeine is the root of all evil in pregnancy and the next who knows if it has an effect. Some doctors say to avoid sushi others say use your judgment. And don’t even get me started on the whole where to have your baby and with what pain management options debates.

So I have to admit I groaned, loudly, when I saw headlines that weighed in on when the cord should be clamped in the delivery room? My third trimester brain is too flooded with details I don’t really want to be considering about delivery and now I need to ask my doc when she plans to cut the cord? Really?
Apparently it’s not as new a discussion as the recent headlines would have you believe.

Early versus delayed umbilical cord clamping has been a source of controversy and debate in the OBGYN field for many years, said Dr. Sheri Puffer, an OB/GYN on the medical staff at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital. A quick primer on umbilical cords: at the time of birth, the infant is attached to the mother via the umbilical cord which is part of the placenta. Separation of mom and baby happens when the cord is clamped and cut. Dr. Puffer – who’s also pregnant with her first child – said there are no guidelines currently stating if early (less than 60 seconds after birth) or delayed (greater than 1 min after birth) cord clamping is superior. The timing is up to your provider and their clinical practice.

A reformed planner?

My friends and family know I'm a planner. I'm such a planner that for our wedding I had spreadsheets organized and tabbed according to the day of the wedding week and the person responsible for the tasks. It still amuses my Mom to tell tales of that spreadsheet.

There's not much more satisfying to me than checking items off a to do list. I enjoy researching and planning. I do best when completely informed.

That's why it is so strange that when it comes to thinking about a birth plan I couldn't be less interested. I have no desire to read the labor part of the baby books. I don't have a vision for how the birth will go other than that I want my daughter to arrive safely, I would like pain medication and I want to do skin-to-skin as immediately as possible. That's it. That's my birth plan. We are going to attend a childbirth class so I'll soak up some info I suppose. But the bottom line is I know she will come out somehow and ultimately how that happens is more in my physician's control than mine. And I am perfectly happy with that.

Can fear make labor last longer?

Fearing childbirth might make your labor last longer, according to a recent study.

Dr. Noushin Firouzbakht, OB/GYN on the medical staff at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, says she agrees that when women are fearful and anxious about possible complications it seems to increase their labor length.

“In my experience, if the Mom is not relaxed the labor does seem to last longer," she said. "It’s the Moms who cling on to every fear, when they hear something happened to an aunt or a cousin and think the same thing is going to happen to them as well. But the reality is that’s not the majority of people.”

Mind Your Own Birth

No two births are the same. This is true if you are comparing your birth to previous births or to those of other moms. And guess what? That’s OK. There are many different choices to be made when giving birth and (this may come as a surprise) there is not one superior “best” way to labor and deliver a baby. Choices such as whether to choose an OBGYN or midwife, whether to get an epidural or not, or even whether or not to have a vaginal delivery or C-section should be made by the people who they affect the most.