RE: My Midwifery History
@sweetsah, The delay in cord clamping (at least until the cord has stopped pulsing) is done so all the goodness can still go from the placenta to the baby. You know, in some places (at least where I'm from) there are companies who will advertise and almost hunt pregnant women down to tell them they will store the baby's umbilical cord blood for a lot of money, just in case they might need it later in life (stem cells) if they fall ill with cancer or other diseases. Some people (I am one of them) believe that delayed cord clamping could possibly nullify the need for that in the first place (and thus prevent illness). We all know stem cells are used in trials to treat various diseases. That 'frozen cord blood' is big business... The placenta itself is sometimes used in frozen, then dried and powdered form for the mother to recover faster from birth. And later even when she goes into menopause...
I wasn't aware of the benefit of delayed clamping either. I did know that the cord blood could be of benefit to someone requiring a transfusion, and tried to donate my last one to the blood bank. Some hospitals in Australia work with the blood bank to collect it for these uses, but the one I was booked in was not part of that programme. It became difficult to arrange so it was just discarded, which seemed incredibly wasteful. Interesting, as you mentioned, for thousands of dollars I could have banked it for my child, but donating it to a stranger was less easy.
Yes, that is kind of strange that it's so hard to do. Yeah, it does seem very wasteful. I think that stuff is liquid gold, or better even as it literally gives life, even after birth. But I always thought it was crazy that they'd have you pay huge amounts to bank your own child's umbilical cord blood, in stead of just making the best use of it right after birth, which could prevent the need for it entirely.
Thanks for the feedback. Very interesting to know. I wonder what happens to the cord nowadays? Are the hospitals using them in tests? It would be sad if it just gets destroyed.
I have no idea what happens to it, or the placenta for that matter. My first thought is that it may be destroyed. Shame, you're right.
Sorry for taking so long to reply! It gets quite busy with a two-year-old to take care of and making sure I get enough sleep!!
According to the hospital consent forms, the placenta and umbilical cord are incinerated. But there are conspiracies that they are sold to cosmetics companies.