Who will cut your baby’s umbilical cord…

…and when?

Your baby is attached to the placenta by their umbilical cord. The placenta is a fascinating organ - it’s grown for the sole purpose of nourishing your baby, and when it’s no longer needed, it is birthed shortly after your baby. The placenta delivers all the oxygen, nutrients, and everything else your baby needs. It also removes waste products.

The umbilical cord will pulsate after birth. This post today is to illustrate the difference between a fresh umbilical cord, and what it looks like once it has finished pulsating. Sometimes, birth can move quickly. Part of the birth routine is separating your baby from the placenta. Sometimes the placenta has already been birthed, sometimes the placenta is still inside your uterus when the umbilical cord is clamped and cut.

For some, this is a special, symbolic process - the first time birther and baby are separate. This can be powerful and emotional. Perhaps the birther wants to cut the cord, or maybe the partner, aunty, or grandma are invited to cut the cord, as a way of being more involved in the experience.

Other’s don’t think too much of this process. Once the baby is out, they just want to focus on snuggling, and not worry about any of that other hustle and bustle. Some folks are grossed out by all of the birth-y stuff, and they’d much rather let the care providers handle it.

Some families do a cord burning ceremony, and some choose not to separate their baby from the placenta at all, instead wrapping the placenta in a special blanket, and waiting for it to drop off. This is called a ‘Lotus Birth.’ All of these options are normal and valid, and you get to choose what feels right.

Have you heard of delayed cord clamping? Also referred to as optimal cord clamping or waiting for white.

The World Health Organization recommends to delay the clamping and cutting of your baby’s umbilical cord.

Want to learn even more?
90 Seconds to Change the World - Check out this fabulous TED Talk by Doctor Alan Greene (author of Feeding Baby Green, Raising Baby Green and, From First Kicks to First Steps)
World Health Organization - Scroll down to ‘Evidence’ if you’d like to read the studies that these recommendations are based on.

When your baby is born, they only have about 2/3 of their blood inside of their body. The other 1/3 is still in the placenta and umbilical cord. Immediately after birth, the cord will continue to pulsate, sometimes for several minutes. The placenta, and the blood left in the umbilical cord, is very rich in oxygen, iron, and stem cells.

So let’s take a look at what a placenta looks like! The side seen here is sometimes referred to as “the tree of life.” As you can see, the blood vessels form a sort of tree. This is the part of your placenta that baby was cuddled up against in your womb! The maternal side of the placenta (the part that is implanted into the uterus) doesn’t look quite as pleasing.

Here, you can see this cord is still fresh and thick. It’s got blue coils, still filled with that baby’s rich, nourishing blood.

And once the cord has been left for several minutes, you can see that it becomes much thinner. The coils have gone. The cord is white. Sometimes they even go quite limp. This means it is finished doing it’s job. (Side note, this is actually quite a robust cord. Umbilical cords that have stopped pulsating aren’t this thick and juicy looking! I will update this article once I have a clearer photo of a limp cord)

What you choose to do regarding your placenta, and the umbilical cord is completely up to you. You can ask for delayed cord clamping in any birthing scenario, even a cesarean! Care providers are happy to oblige, when possible.