Delayed cord clamping: what you need to know
Learn about delayed cord clamping, its benefits for your baby, when it may be recommended and what to discuss with your midwife or obstetrician.
Your baby’s umbilical cord is their connection to the placenta throughout pregnancy, carrying oxygen and essential nutrients to support their growth and development. After birth, waiting before clamping the cord allows blood to continue flowing from the placenta to your baby and may provide important health benefits.
The umbilical cord plays an important role throughout pregnancy. It connects your baby to the placenta, allowing oxygen and nutrients to pass from you to your baby while carrying carbon dioxide and other waste products away.
Once your baby is born, the cord continues to play a role for a short time. Your baby takes their first breaths and begins transitioning to breathing independently, while blood continues to flow between the placenta and your baby through the umbilical cord.
Delayed cord clamping means waiting for a period of time after your baby is born before clamping and cutting the umbilical cord. This allows additional blood from the placenta to pass to your baby, a process known as placental transfusion.
What are the benefits of delayed cord clamping?
Research has found several potential benefits associated with delayed cord clamping for newborns, including higher haemoglobin levels at birth and increased iron stores during the first few months of life.
The additional blood transferred from the placenta can also provide your baby with iron, stem cells and other blood components.
Your doctor or midwife can discuss these benefits with you and how it may fit into your individual birth preferences.
When is the umbilical cord clamped?
The timing of cord clamping can vary depending on the circumstances of the birth and the health of both mother and baby.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends delayed umbilical cord clamping more than one minute after birth or when cord pulsations have ceased for improved maternal and infant health and nutrition outcomes.
Other professional guidance recommends waiting for at least 30 to 60 seconds for most babies. The appropriate timing may be longer depending on the circumstances and the clinical team caring for you and your baby.
As the cord continues to transfer blood, you may be able to see its appearance change. The cord may become thinner and paler as the pulsations gradually decrease and eventually stop.
You will be asked by your midwife or obstetrician for your consent to cut the cord unless there is a medical need to intervene.
What happens after the cord is clamped?
Once the umbilical cord has been clamped, it can be cut. Depending on your birth circumstances and your preferences, your partner or another support person may be able to cut the cord.
For many families, this can be a special moment during the transition from pregnancy to meeting their baby.
When might delayed cord clamping not be possible?
There are circumstances where your obstetrician, midwife or care team may not recommend delayed cord clamping.
For example, immediate cord clamping may be necessary if:
- your baby requires immediate resuscitation or urgent medical care that cannot be provided with the cord intact
- you experience significant maternal bleeding or become medically unstable
- there is a problem with the placenta or umbilical cord that requires urgent management
- an emergency caesarean birth is required
- there is another urgent concern affecting the health of you or your baby
In these situations, your healthcare team’s priority is to provide the care that you and your baby need as quickly as possible.
Making delayed cord clamping part of your birth preferences
If delayed cord clamping is something you would like to consider, speak with your obstetrician or midwife during your pregnancy.
Discussing it ahead of time gives your maternity team an opportunity to explain how delayed cord clamping is approached at your St John of God Health Care hospital and what may happen in different birth circumstances.
Your maternity team will work with you to support your preferences wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so.
References
World Health Organization (WHO). Optimal timing of cord clamping for the prevention of iron deficiency anaemia in infants. Updated 9 August 2023.
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping After Birth. Committee Opinion No. 814. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2020;136:e100–e106.
McDonald SJ, Middleton P, Dowswell T, Morris PS. Effect of timing of umbilical cord clamping of term infants on maternal and neonatal outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2013; Issue 7. Art. No.: CD004074. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004074.pub3.
Rabe H, Diaz-Rossello JL, Duley L, Dowswell T. Effect of timing of umbilical cord clamping and other strategies to influence placental transfusion at preterm birth on maternal and infant outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2012; Issue 8. Art. No.: CD003248. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003248.pub3.
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). What is delayed cord clamping? ACOG patient information.
World Health Organization. WHO recommendations on maternal health: guidelines approved by the WHO Guidelines Review Committee. 2025.