The circulatory and respiratory adaptation to early and late cord clamping in newborn infants.

Abstract

SummaryTime of first breath and frist cry, systolic blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate of 32 newborn infants whose umbilical cords were clamped early and 30 whose cords were tied late after birth were studied. The early clamped infants breathed significantly sooner after birth than the late clamped infants, probably a result of anoxia due to severance of placental blood supply by immediate cord clamping. The indirectly measured sys‐ tolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the late clamped group of infants during the first 24 hours of life perhaps due to the difference in blood volumes between the two groups. This is further supported by a positive correlation found between systolic blood pressure and venous hematocrit during the first 4 hours of life. Pulse rate in the two groups of infants studied revealed no significant difference. The respiratory rate in the early clamped group of infants was significantly slower during the 1st to the 3rd hour of life when compared with the late clamped infants. No satisfactory explanation could be offered for this observation.