Umbilical cord

Cutting the umbilical cord of a newborn baby

Cord removal (Illustration from Friedrich Eduard Bilz : Das neue Naturheilverfahren. 100th edition, 1900)

When cutting the cord in the original sense, the (natural) separating or falling is umbilical cord together with the thereon placenta (placenta) from the newborn called. In current parlance, in practice in obstetrics, umbilical cord cutting is also referred to - actually imprecisely - the cutting of the umbilical cord with scissors or a knife after the birth . The aseptic cutting of an umbilical cord is called an omphalotomy in the medical field .

To cut the umbilical cord, it is preliminarily clamped a few centimeters in front of the newborn's belly and a few more centimeters further with an umbilical clamp (tied off earlier) and cut with scissors in between. With immediate umbilical cord cutting, this happens immediately after birth, with early umbilical cord cutting after about 1½ to two minutes and with late umbilical cord cutting some time later after the placental blood has completely crossed, i.e. some time after the umbilical cord pulse has ceased . However, it has been proven that immediate umbilical cord removal cuts the newborn's iron supplies, as a large part of the blood volume remains in the umbilical cord and cannot get into the child's circulation.

The umbilical cord remaining on the abdomen is cleaned; it dries up within a few days and finally falls off. The navel remains as a visible part. This is the actual and natural process (and time) of the cord cutting .

If the umbilical cord after birth unabgeklemmt with the placenta (sterile if possible) left on the newborn to be seen is a natural umbilical cord, it is called a Lotus Birth (English: Lotus birth ).

In a figurative sense, the term cutting the cord is used for the process of detachment from parents or other caregivers.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cutting the cord . In: Pschyrembel Dictionary Sexuality. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-11-016965-7 , p. 1.
2. ↑ Obstetrics: Late abnabeln improves fine motor skills . aerzteblatt.de. May 28, 2015. Accessed March 25, 2019.
3. ↑ Lotus birth. ( Memento from January 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Lotus birth case report (PDF; 103 kB)

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