For five years, the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton has been delaying the clamping of the umbilical cords of premature babies, in the hopes of preventing some of the complications that babies born too early often face.
The hospital is the first in Canada to make this a common practice, and now, with health officials reporting the benefits, other hospitals in Alberta are following its lead.
Typically, when babies are born, the umbilical cord is clamped right away. The thinking has been that the practice reduces the risk of maternal hemorrhaging. Quick clamping was also thought to reduce the risk of a condition called polycythemia, in which the baby's blood becomes too thick and rich with red blood cells.
But recent studies have found that delaying the clamping for one minute may not increase the risk of either condition.
A review published this past summer by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international research organization that evaluates medical evidence, looked at more than 15 studies on the matter. They concluded that late clamping, as the practice is called, made no difference to women's risk of hemorrhage.
For five years now, doctors at the Royal Alex have been delaying clamping the cord of all premature babies for a full 60 seconds. The hope has been that the extra time allows more blood to move from the placenta into the newborn.
Several recent studies have been showing that late clamping helps raise iron levels in the infant and decreases the risk of anemia in the first months of life. What's more, research is also showing that tiny and fragile premature babies suffer fewer complications, like brain injuries, bowel problems and infections.
"During that 60-second delay, the baby has the opportunity to take some spontaneous breaths and that is what helps draw the blood through the cord and into the circulating blood volume," explains Heather Chinnery, a clinical nurse specialist at the Royal Alex.
The Cochrane Review did find that late clamping was linked to a small increase in the risk of jaundice, a potentially dangerous condition caused by a build-up of a substance called bilirubin in the blood, which causes a yellowing of the skin and eyes. But the authors said they believed the potential benefit of increased iron levels outweighed the jaundice risk.
Katerina McMurty may be one of those babies who has benefitted from late clamping. Three years ago, the now happy little girl was born more than two months premature, weighing just two and a half pounds. Despite her rough start, today she's healthy, says her mother, Corrie McMurty.
"She didn't have any complications. She's healthy. She hardly ever gets sick," says McMurty.
"There's nothing to indicate that she was born early, so early, really."
With all Edmonton hospitals now delaying cord clamping on premature babies, the delivery units at Calgary hospitals are beginning to do the same. With many declaring the change in practices to be a success, it remains to be seen whether the practice will spread nationwide.
With a report from CTV's Alberta Bureau Chief Janet Dirks
