In a typical birth, (hospital, OB/GYN, Pitocin, epidural, assisted delivery) a common procedure is immediate clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord. We’ve been doing this as a normal practice for many decades.
In “natural” childbirth (no medical interventions, in or out of a hospital), parents tell the care providers to wait a few minutes before clamping and cutting the cord. We tell them to wait until the cord stops pulsating, which is an indication that all the blood has gone into the baby. This usually takes 3 to 5 minutes.
People who approve of highly medicalized childbirth scoff at this idea. We do it anyway, and this video is a marvelous explanation of why it’s good to wait. The speaker is a male OB/GYN, so it’s a little surprising that he’s on our side. But like any good doctor, he researched the topic when a patient asked him to do this.
The video is in four parts, which take about 45 minutes. If you’re interested in this topic, you’ll find it fascinating.
Marlene Dotterer 
Very interesting, Marlene.
Reblogged this on Atlantamomofthree and commented:
A wonderful natural childbirth article! Delayed Cord Clamping. So doing this next time!