Cord Blood Stem Cells Information

Questions about umbilical cord at delivery?

1. When the baby is delivered, the umbilical cord is cut, but why does the cord stay on the baby until it falls off? 2. When the cord is cut and clipped, does unclipping it cause bleeding? 3. Why does the baby no longer need the maternal blood supply ex-utero?

Public Comments

1. 1.) The cord is left on so the belly button can heal. There is a hole there that your baby recieved its nutrients from and after birth, it need to heal up and form the belly button. 2.) Yes, it is clamped for a little while until the bleeding stops. Once it stops, they cut it down farther so there is only a stump there so the baby can wear a diaper and clothes. 3.) The baby can now eat on his own and no longer needs the mother's nutrients.
2. when the baby is born it doesnt need the umbilical cord and he or she will either be breast fed or bottle fed. the umbilical cord will dry up and fall off by its self
3. 1. the baby is a biological unit. Even kittens have a stub after mom chews it off. There is bacteria that causes the stub to fall off (in fact, they no longer recommend using alcohol because the cord stays on LONGER because you keep killing the bacteria). 2. Unclipping after about 10-15 minutes and it will stop bleeding for most kids. Clipping the cord was a practice that only started with hospitalized care. It was not done in homebirths as late as the 40s. If you wait until after the cord stops pulsating, you can cut it and it bleeds a tiny bit, if any. 3. Once the baby is born and breathes in, changes occur that take it from a fetus to a baby. There is a change in blood flow (heart and lungs). Once that blood flow change occurs, the placenta detaches itself. How does it know? Probably a change in hormones.
4. The cord stays on until the baby's body heals over the hole that used to be there. When it is healed closed, the cord falls off. Both my babies fell off after 8 days. Most take at least a couple of weeks. Unclipping the cord BEFORE it has dried up would cause bleeding, after that it is ok to unclip (around 2-5 days). The baby is mature enough to be born and survive on its own blood supply using nutrients from feeding. Also the mother's body used to process the baby's waste as well so the baby has to do that now too. That is why they are so sensative to chemicals, perfumes, toxins etc. Their liver and waste processing organs are functioning on their own for the first time.
5. 1. The cord stays on until it dries up and falls off. It takes time for the body to completely close off those blood vessels. 2. If you cut the cord before it has closed on its own then yes it does cause bleeding. In rare cases an unclamped cord that has closed on its own can start bleeding again sometimes a day or so later. 3. The baby does need the blood supply until its lungs are inflated and it is breathing well on its own. If you clamp the cord before the lungs are inflated then the baby experiences a drop in blood pressure until such point as it can make up the blood that would normally have been drawn from the placenta to fill the lungs. A baby will also continue to draw oxygen from the mother until the baby is breathing well on its own. This is why waterbirths are safe. Once the placenta is born however there is not longer any connection to the mother's blood supply and no need for the placenta and cord.