Placental circulation after birth: Is it beneficial or pathological?

Home   -----   >>Site Map Apgar Oxygen an urgent ongoing need Transition fetal to postnatal circulation Tradition Protocols Outcomes Concerns Question Authority References Links Notes Contact: Eileen Nicole Simon eileen4brainresearch@yahoo.com

Placental circulation continues for several minutes after birth, and traditionally has been viewed as nature's way of easing the transition from fetal to postnatal circulation and respiration.   Recent opinion, on the other hand, appears to regard placental transfusion as pathological, and a potential cause of circulatory overload and jaundice in the newborn infant.

This website was developed to question whether this break with tradition might be unsafe:

Apgar:  p2

Home:  p1

Oxygen:  p3

Transition:  p4

Apgar's 1953 paper is online -- note that a satisfactory cry has sometimes not been established, even when the infant leaves the delivery room.

The hazards of childbirth have long been recognized.   Human interventions developed in efforts to increase safety for mother and child.

Oxygen is the most urgent ongoing need for all species dependent for survival on aerobic metabolism.

Transition from placental to pulmonary circulation involves closing of shunts in the heart, and may require many minutes.

Outcomes:  p7 & ongoing

Concerns:  p8 & NCS1-13

Tradition:  p5

Protocols:  pp6-6f

Asphyxia of six or more minutes at birth results in visible lesions within the brainstem.   Impairment of function may occur even earlier.

A paper submitted to the National Children's Study (NCS) expressing concerns about the protocol for umbilical cord clamping.

Traditional teaching was to wait for the infant's first breath, or better for pulsations of the umbilical cord to cease before clamping it off.

Recent obstetric protocols include clamping the umbilical cord within seconds of birth, even before the first breath.

Notes:  p12 & ongoing

References:  p10

Links:  p11

Question Authority:  p9

Links to other relevant websites (work in progress)

Notes on topics relevant to childbirth practices and outcomes (work in progress).

Draw up a birthing plan.   Ask about obstetric protocols. Ask why allowing placental respiration after birth wouldn't be preferable to immediate clamping of the umbilical cord.

A large bibliography (work in progress) mainly about autism and its association with complications at birth.

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where and when additions and changes are made.

I could be wrong.   Please let me know what you think.

Posted: February 27, 2006 (a work in progress)