In time: how and when should we clamp the umbilical cord: does it really matter?

here are several reasons to answer yes. The first one is hat it is among the most frequently performed medical or paramedical) interventions in human beings: 3,000,000 imes a year in Brazil, 131,000,000 times a year in the world that means 250 times a minute). Therefore, even a minial influence of the way or of the timing of cord clamping n the infants’ health becomes important, because of its otential massive impact. A MEDLINE search with the words ‘umbilical cord clamping’’ demonstrates the interest on his simple procedure (88 publications from January 2014 o April 2015). In the last 2 PAS meetings (USA), where most ecently performed or ongoing research studies related to ewborns are reported, there were workshops and many resentations about this issue. It is clear, from RCTs and meta-analyses, that delayed ord clamping (DCC) in term newborns, for at least 1min fter birth, results in a significant amount of blood passing rom the placenta to the infant (placental transfusion): the nfants’ weight increases an average of 101g (approximately 6 cc of blood). As a result, hemoglobin is higher 48h after irth, and iron deficiency during infancy is less frequent.