Impact of delayed and early umbilical cord clamping on maternal and neonatal outcome - A prospective observational study.

Abstract

The delayed cord clamping (DCC) procedure is frequently recommended by medical professionals because of its ability to facilitate the natural transfer of blood from the placenta to the baby, which in turn raises the blood volume that is present in the newborn at the time of birth. However, there is no universally agreed-upon definition for DCC, ECC (early cord clamping) and clamping times vary across studies. The objective is to assess and contrast the impacts of ECC and DCC on neonatal haemoglobin, haematocrit and serum bilirubin concentrations in full-term neonates. This prospective observational study involved 180 uncomplicated full-term pregnancies, divided equally into ECC <30 seconds and DCC1-3 minutes groups. Cord clamping time was also used to determine neonatal haematological parameters. Notable disparities were noted between the ECC and DCC groups for mean haemoglobin levels, haematocrit values, birth weight and 5-minute Apgar scores (<i>P</i> < 0.001). This study established that DCC increases neonatal haemoglobin concentration at birth and improves iron reserve in early infancy. Based on the present evidence, it is evident that delayed cord clamping has a lot of benefits and should be incorporated as a routine procedure in normal, uncomplicated, full-term births.