Delayed umbilical cord ligation

Breast milk is the best possible nutrition for your baby. Close contact with your baby – skin-to-skin bonding – not just in the first few hours of life, is the first step towards successful breastfeeding.

For newborns who adapt well, we routinely perform what is known as delayed cord clamping, i.e. clamping the umbilical cord several minutes after birth. This corresponds to the time when the cord has finished pulsating. During this time, the baby lies on the mother’s stomach or chest. Babies with delayed cord clamping experience a smoother postnatal adaptation and a lower incidence of anaemia in infancy. The umbilical cord may be cut by the baby’s father. We also perform delayed cord clamping in the majority of caesarean sections.