ABSTRACT
Historically, if conducting active management of the third stage of labour, the umbilical cord would be clamped and cut immediately following delivery of the baby. Current practice as recommended by NICE is to delay clamping the cord for between 1–5 minutes unless there is a clinical reason to do so such as if the baby requires transfer for resucutation or the placenta needs to be delivered due to maternal haemorrhage. Delaying cord clamping enables the baby to receive valuable blood flow which can reduce risks of anaemia and iron deficiency resulting in affected growth and development. If left, the cord will naturally shut down and blood flow will cease (McDonald and Middleton 2009).
