Delayed cord clamping during infant resuscitation (video)

As San Diego’s only freestanding women’s hospital, Sharp Mary Birch for Women & Newborns provides outstanding reproductive and gynecologic procedures for women, and exceptional infant delivery services and care. The hospital is equipped with a Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which, among its numerous capabilities to provide support for premature babies, can deliver a full range of respiratory treatment.

Sharp Mary Birch is also a part of Sharp HealthCare’s Neonatal Research Institute, led by Dr. Anup Katheria, program director. Dr. Katheria conducts clinical trials to discover the best ways to care for newborns.

The benefits of delayed cord clamping

Among his research, Dr. Katheria has examined the benefits of briefly waiting to cut the umbilical cord, a practice known as delayed cord clamping, when a baby is born. Per the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ recommendation, many doctors already wait 30 seconds to one minute to cut a newborn’s umbilical cord, whether the baby is born premature or not.

Benefits of delayed cord clamping include increased hemoglobin — the protein responsible for delivering oxygen to the tissues — levels that can support development in full-term babies. For preterm babies, delaying cord cutting decreases the chances of death by 30%.

Ten percent of infants, including those who are born full-term, require resuscitation to begin breathing. Delayed cord clamping during resuscitation can be life-saving, as it allows the newborn to remain connected to the placenta, which provides a significant amount of blood to stabilize the baby’s heart.

Providing an infant’s best start

At Sharp Mary Birch, doctors use the LifeStart trolley, which can fit onto various delivery bed sizes, to help keep the newborn close to mom during resuscitation. To monitor the infant’s heart rate, the hospital also has the NeoBeat, which allows doctors to quickly observe the baby’s health using Bluetooth technology.

Watch the video above as Dr. Katheria discusses the LifeStart trolley and NeoBeat, which are used as part of Sharp Mary Birch’s efforts to help provide babies the best start at birth.

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