A new study says that delaying the cutting of the umbilical cord in newborns by two minutes leads to a better development of the baby during the first days of life - by influencing the resistance to oxidative stress in newborns. 

Umbilical cord clamping is the most frequent surgical intervention practiced upon humans - just about everyone on the planet had it done, and that has been the case for centuries. But in the new age, alternative medicine culture, where anything old is better, there have been various claims about when to do it, if at all. 

The group worked with a group of 64 healthy pregnant women who went into labor in the San Cecilio Clinical Hospital in Granada. They all had a normal pregnancy and spontaneous vaginal delivery. Half of the newborns had their umbilical cord cut 10 seconds after delivery, whereas the other half had it cut after two minutes. 

But how did they determine that led to better oxidative stress in the babies who had
umbilical cord clamping two minutes later?  They said there was an increase in the antioxidant capacity of mature newborns and there was moderation of inflammatory effects in the case of induced delivery. 

The authors say they compared the impact of the moment of clamping upon the inflammatory signal produced during delivery in both the mother and the newborn, a measure of oxidative stress since more oxidation is usually a sign the body is fighting. "Our study demonstrates that late clamping of the umbilical cord has a beneficial effect upon the antioxidant capacity and reduces the inflammatory signal induced during labor, which could improve the development of the newborn during his or her first days of life," the authors say. 

 Published in Pediatrics. Source: University of Granada