Can you do delayed cord clamping and cord blood banking?

Delayed cord clamping and cord blood banking is a sensitive subject.

The process of delaying before clamping the cord allows some of the blood from the umbilical cord to enter into the blood of the infant. 

However, this shouldn’t go beyond the first 2 minutes if you have intentions of banking the blood.

This article will share some of the dos and don’ts of delayed cord clamping and their relationship with cord blood banking. Keep reading to learn more.

What does delayed cord clamping Mean

Before modern medical practices, midwives in the 1950s waited between 1 and 5 minutes before clamping the cord. 

With time, healthcare facilities started to shorten the delay because they believed it could prevent the mother from losing too much blood.

In recent times, delayed clamping was found to have health benefits for the infant. 

Blood from the placenta has been found to contain some constituents that can be highly beneficial to the baby. 

Delayed cord clamping Benefits

1. The blood transferred from the cord to the baby contains larger amounts of iron. This additional iron content, which is less in breast milk, can help reduce the chances of developing anemia.
2. For babies born before the full term, the health risks associated with such babies are high. The extra amount of healthy placenta blood can help to lower the risk.
3. Infants can receive up to 80 ml of placenta blood with a delay of 1 minute. This value increases by 20 ml if you delay for up to 3 minutes.
4. A delay in clamping your child’s umbilical cord can boost the infant’s blood pressure. This reduces the need for excessive medication to maintain the baby’s blood pressure.
5. Delayed clamping goes a long way in reducing the risk of complicated health conditions such as necrotizing enterocolitis and bleeding into the child’s brain.

What is Cord blood banking, and how can it be useful?

Cord blood banking is a procedure used to collect stem cells from the placenta and umbilical cord and save them for use in the future. 

Stem cells are premature cells found in the blood that can assume the form of any other cell in the future.

These stem cells can be used to TREAT many health disorders such as cancer, anemia, and immune system disorders. 

Compared to bone marrow, cord blood has been found to contain a higher amount of stem cells. Furthermore, stem cells from cord blood have a lower risk of containing infections. 

Can you do delayed cord clamping and cord blood banking?

Yes, You can do delayed cord blood clamping and cord blood banking. 

The goal of allowing some of the placenta blood to flow into the infant is majorly achieved within the first 30 seconds to one minute after birth. 

Any further delay beyond this time comes with no significant benefits and may have some downsides.

However, you should note that delaying the blood for more than 3 minutes can make the blood begin to clot. 

As a result, it can be difficult to collect such blood for banking. 

A study has shown that the number of nucleated cells present in the blood drops with each delay.

If you’re collecting such blood for transplant to someone else, we advise that you don’t delay for long. 

This lowers the volume of blood collected for banking. A delay beyond 1 minute reduces the amount of blood collected by 7 folds.