Delayed cord clamping in the first minute in preterm infants born before 34 weeks of gestation improves neonatal hematologic measures and may reduce mortality without increasing any other morbidity. In term-born babies, it also seems to improve both the short- and long-term outcomes and shows favorable scores in fine motor and social domains. However, there is insufficient evidence to show what duration of delay is best. The current evidence supports not clamping the cord before 30 seconds for preterm births. Future trials could compare different lengths of delay. Until then, a period of 30 seconds to 3 minutes seems justified for term-born babies.
Keywords: delayed cord clamping; neonatal outcomes; preterm delivery; term delivery.
© 2021 The Authors. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.