<< 1 >>
2002 Dr. George Morley, a retired obstetrician, sent me an email asking if I knew how soon after birth Conrad's umbilical cord had been clamped. Clearly, it was before he was breathing, and I still re-experience the sense of panic I felt, that my baby was on the other side of the delivery room, pale and lifeless, surrounded by a team of people working to get him breathing.
stillborn and brought back to life by resuscitation. Reading the paper by Dr. Morley (1998) I learned a few things I was never aware of:
continues for a time. The newborn also receives a placental transfusion that optimizes its blood volume. Physiologic closure of the cord vessels terminates this transfusion. When the cord is clamped before these vessels close, the amount of placental transfusion usually is reduced, sometimes markedly, particularly if the infant's lungs are not yet ventilated. Clamping after the vessels have closed insures hemostasis and does not affect cord physiology. In current practice, the cord usually is clamped as soon as is convenient, regardless of physiology.” [OBG Management, July 1998, p29]
thing? I do now believe that Conrad could have been resuscitated sooner with the umbilical cord left intact and functioning, and been saved from brain damage and autism. |
| conradsimon.org home A decade online (2000-2010) New Decade >>Dr. Morley Neonatal transition Dr. Hutchon Instrument of harm Apgar The first breath Postnatal placental circulation Comments for the IACC sitemap Conrad Simon (1963-1995) Pictures (Conrad & his brothers) Traumatic birth Death in a group home © Copyright 1999-2010 Eileen Nicole Simon Conrad Simon Memorial Research Initiative |