BETHESDA, Md., June 29 (UPI) -- Increasing the flow of blood into a prematurely born infants' circulatory system from the umbilical cord has been shown in a study to improve blood pressure and red blood cell levels, and can prevent bleeding in the brain.
The study showed that "cord milking," using the thumb and forefinger to gently squeeze the umbilical cord and slowly push blood toward the child's abdomen, was beneficial specifically for pre-term infants born by Caesarean section.
Typically, doctors will wait between 30 and 60 seconds after delivering a baby to cut the cord, which is thought to be a sufficient time for blood to fill blood vessels in the lungs and allow blood pressure to increase to normal levels and prevent a brain hemorrhage.
Researchers mounted the study because infants born pre-term by C-section were not getting enough blood flow from the umbilical cord simply by taking more time to cut it. They theorize that an anesthetic used in C-section deliveries reduces uterine contractions, and that affects the flow of blood from the umbilical cord.
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The study included 197 mothers, 154 of which delivered by C-section, who were split at random into groups that either would or would not use cord milking before cutting the umbilical cord. The infants delivered by C-section whose cords were milked before being cut had higher blood flow, higher blood pressure and higher levels of hemoglobin, which indicates the quantity of red blood cells in the blood.
"The study results are very encouraging," said Tonse Raju, M.D., chief of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch, in a press release. "The findings need to be confirmed in a larger number of births, but at this point, it appears that umbilical cord milking may prove to be of great benefit to preterm infants delivered via cesarean."
The study is published in Pediatrics.
