The Dangerous Practice of Early Clamping of the Umbilical Cord
Why Do Babies Cry?
by Dr. George Malcolm Morley
- An account of the wonderful events that happen to a newborn child and
its mother immediately after birth when they are not interfered with or
disturbed by doctors, midwives and nurses.
Basics of the Cord Clamping / Brain Damage Issue
The following are established facts:
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Birth asphyxia (lack of oxygen) causes newborn brain damage.
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Before birth, the placenta supplies the brain with oxygen.
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After birth, the lungs supply the brain with oxygen.
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After the delivery of the child, and before delivery of the placenta, the oxygen supply changes from the placenta to the lungs.
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During normal changeover, placental oxygenation continues until pulmonary oxygenation is established.
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During normal changeover, the brain is not deprived of oxygen.
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During normal changeover, placental blood is transfused into the child, increasing its blood volume.
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The increased blood volume flows through the lungs augmented by ventilation to establish pulmonary oxygenation.
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After pulmonary oxygenation is established, placental oxygenation ceases - the cord vessels close; the brain's oxygen supply is not interrupted.
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The child's innate reflexes control all the above mechanisms and functions.
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Those reflexes have been developed over millions of years for optimal survival of the newborn.
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Placental oxygenation is arrested and the brain is deprived of oxygen until the lungs function.
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Placental transfusion is arrested and the child is hypovolemic.
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Blood flow through the lungs and other organs is not optimal and pulmonary oxygenation is not optimal.
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The child’s life support systems are not optimal for survival or for optimum health.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead (1901-1978)
What's New
Autism, ADD/ADHD, and Related Disorders - Is
a Common Chidbirth Practice to Blame?
by
Dr. George Malcolm Morley - This article presents the hypothesis
that placental oxygenation until the lungs are functioning should
prevent autism and related disorders that are caused by hypoxic brain
lesions.
Neonatal Transitional Physiology: A New
Paradigm by
Judith Mercer and RL
Skovgaard - Here is the abstract from a new paper published in The
Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing.
Effect of Delayed Cord Clamping on Iron Stores in Infants
Born to Anemic Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Trial - A
new study showing that iron stores and hemoglobin in infancy can be
improved in babies born to anemic mothers by delaying cord clamping at
birth. (ABSTRACT,
FULL-TEXT)
To Clamp or Not to Clamp by Dr. George Malcolm Morley - A practical guide for expectant parents to explain the safe use of a cord clamp to their doctor or midwife.
Erasmus Darwin: The Physiology and Iatrogenic Pathology of the Third Stage by Dr. George Malcolm Morley - This is an article for practicing obstetricians and midwives outside of academia; it is a short history of how panicked defensive medicine started the cord clamping error and how many false premises have compounded it and prevented its correction.
How the Cord Clamp Injures Your Baby’s Brain by Dr. George Malcolm Morley - This very long article describes how the placenta and functioning cord prepare the child for healthy life in the minutes following birth, and how early cord clamping disrupts this process; many of the birth injuries caused by loss of blood (hypovolemia) and lack of oxygen (hypoxia) due to early cord clamping are discussed.
Please be sure to not only read these articles, but pass them along to as many people as you can, especially your doctor or midwife.
The following is a small collection of writing pertaining to the subject of cord clamping. This list is certainly not anywhere near complete or comprehensive, yet. But it will hopefully continue to be updated.
Additional Cord Clamping Articles/Letters
Informed Consent for Cord Clamping: Ask Erasmus
Darwin by
Dr. George Malcolm Morley -
A letter to the editor of the British Medical Journal.Cord Closure: Can Hasty Clamping Injure the Newborn? - By George Malcolm Morley, MB, ChB, FACOG, July 1998, OBG Management.
Hypoxic Respiratory Failure: Cause & Prevention - Letter to the Editor by George Malcolm Morley (Pediatrics).
Don't fool with Mother Nature. - Unknown
A Randomised Controlled Trial of Delayed Cord Clamping in Very Low Birth Weight Preterm Infants (Eur J Pediatr 2000 Oct;159(10):775-7)
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. - Anatole France (1844-1924)
Do not discard 99.99% of the human placental umbilical cord blood for the sake of stem cells only - by Niranjan Bhattacharya, Surgeon and Superintendent Bijoygarh State Hospital, Calcutta,India
Umbilical Cord Whole Blood Transfusion: A Suggested Strategy To Combat Blood Scarcity In Ireland - by Niranjan Bhattacharya, Surgeon and Superintendent Bijoygarh State Hospital, Calcutta,India
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