LEAVE THE UMBILICAL CORD UNCLAMPED!
and by that I mean
Don’t Cut the Cord!
It does not need to be tied off – with a clamp, shoelace, floss or crochet tie.
I am deeply concerned that it is still widely promoted by medically trained people that this is necessary. IT IS NOT.
This news article raised some very important issues: namely that closing down rural maternity services means increasing the risk of ‘birth before arrival’. This means rural and remote women are given two options: induce or move to the city from 37 weeks until birth. There is a third option. Travel in labour. If you have a history of precipitous birth (2 hours or less), the very real scenario of a roadside birth or an unassisted birth at home means you might be ‘issued’ a DIY pack. This ridiculous pack seems to focus on the ‘need’ to clamp and cut the cord.
The culture of modern birth is to hand over the power, the responsibility and the knowledge to the medical establishment. This might be fine for some, but for many this is very dangerous. For rural and remote women, and precipitous birthers, especially so.
Something as simple as understanding that the umbilical cord can remain unclamped and uncut, can lead to a flood of information and awareness that makes taking back your power and responsibility easy.
You can read more about the cord here
You can also find out where to purchase my book The Birth Map: boldly going where no birth plan has gone before here, where the three primary pathways of birth preparation are covered, including ‘The Fast Birth Pathway’.
resources: #waitforwhite