Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping For Term Infants: A Pilot Safety Trial During Cesarean Deliveries

Despite expert recommendations to delay clamping the cord for at least 2 minutes, early cord clamping remains a common obstetrical practice. The World Health Organization has noted that data on cesarean deliveries are more limited, particularly with respect to long-term effects in infants. Recently, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology also noted in a committee statement that " the ideal time for clamping of the umbilical cord in cesarean section vs. vaginal birth is a particularly important area for future research".

The objective of this study is to conduct a pilot trial of delayed cord clamping during cesarean deliveries to determine if progressively longer intervals of cord clamping are feasible and not related to poorer maternal and neonatal outcomes as compared to outcomes from historical controls. We will offer study entry for women planning elective cesarean delivery to collect prospective data on progressively longer intervals, analyzing outcomes for each time interval to ensure they are clinically acceptable, prior to extending the interval another 30 s. We anticipate approximately 20 women at each interval (90 and 120 sec) and will perform hemoglobin analysis on the infants specifically for this study. If intraoperative blood loss is clinically deemed excessive, or mother or baby are unstable, the cord will be clamped.