Petition Tag - homebirth

Early cord clamping (ECC) is defined as any method by which the cord is manipulated to stop the flow of blood to the baby while it is still pulsating. This includes clamping, cutting, hand squeezing, tying or holding the baby too high or too low. An umbilical cord pulsates for between 7 mins for an unmedicated birth and up to 20 mins for a medicated birth.

In this time the full volume of blood the newborn infant requires is still passed from the placenta until it stops pulsating or until it turns white. Currently mainstream procedure is to immediately (within 30 seconds) clamp and cut the babys functioning cord. Whenever a pulsating umbilical cord is clamped, 20-60% of the baby's total blood volume is trapped inside the placenta. It will take over 6 months for the baby to replenish the volume of blood lost by early cord clamping.

Short cord, maternal haemorrhage, c-section, respiratory distress are just a few of the worthless reasons to clamp a cord. Even a baby in distress can be revived with the cord intact. All of the restricted umbilical cord problems are usually the result of drugs given during labour, including oxytocin, Pitocin, iv fluids, and pain medications, not a result of leaving the cord intact. The only situations in which a cord should be early clamped is when the cord has torn or with a placenta previa. Babies born via c-section can be delivered with their cord and placenta intact.

Multiples can also be delivered without risk of restricted umbilical cord problems. ECC is also routinely being done in some countries to get stem cell blood for banking (effectively taking those cells away from your baby when it needs it and possibly using for them at a later stage but mostly for other people). Restricted umbilical cord problems associated with anaemia are Autism, heart perforations, thyroid disorders, brain tumours, leukaemia, SIDS, hormonal imbalances and liver/kidney disease. When a baby requires to be resuscitated which is not that uncommon (1 in 16), the full volume of blood is required to ensure they are receiving the maximum dose of oxygenated blood.

As the blood travels into the baby's expanding lungs, once they become filled, the baby will feel its own signal to breathe and will do so with fully expanded lungs but it is usually procedure during "resuscitation" also to cut the cord, take the baby to a warming tray to make access easier for the attending midwifes, OBs etc which is not a necessity and is counterproductive. Please sign this petition in the hope that we can educate all birth attendants that early cord clamping is doing more harm than good and the practice should be abolished completely.

The baby's umbilical cord should be left at the very minimum until the cord has stopped pulsating. Another 20mins in a birthing unit is not too much to ask. First DO NO HARM. Check out this link for further information http://www.givingbirthnaturally.com/restricted-umbilical-cord-problems.html

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The Albany Midwifery Practice in Peckham, south London, has been providing safe, woman centred care for women from deeply disadvantaged backgrounds for twelve years. Peckham ranks as the fourteenth most deprived district of 354 districts in England.

The Albany has been thoroughly evaluated twice, has a far lower Caesarean section rate than King’s College Hospital (14.4% compared with 24.1%) and a far lower perinatal mortality rate (4.9/1000 compared with 11.4/1000) for Southwark Borough as a whole.

The Albany gives genuine choice to the women whom it serves about place of birth and choice of midwife at birth. National maternity policy states that all women should have such a choice by 2009.

The Albany is providing safe, woman-centred care for vulnerable women who want and depend on this care. Yet Kings is forcing the service to close down its birth service at home and to limit its continuity of care. Why are women and babies being denied safe birth in one of the few pockets of genuine woman-centred midwifery-led care in Britain?

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