To Study the Effect of Immediate Versus Delayed Cord Clamping on Hematocrit, Hemoglobin and Body Temperature in Term Neonates Born by Cesarean Section- A Randomized Control Trial

The umbilical cord is the lifeline that connects the placenta to the foetus. Following birth, blood continues to ow through umbilical arteries (from the infant to the placenta) for approximately 20-25 seconds and is negligible by 45 seconds1. In the umbilical vein, however, blood continues to ow from the placenta to the infant for up to 3 minutes after delivery2. This additional blood volume transferred from the placenta to the neonate at birth through the umbilical vein is dened as Placental transfusion3. Neonatal anaemia is an important problem that has multiple sequelae on long term neurological, emotional and behavioural outcomes of newborns. Summary: Delayed cord clamping (for up to 60 sec) leads to improvement in levels of haemoglobin, haematocrit at 2 months of age. In our study the haemoglobin level in the Delayed cord clamping (DCC) group (n = 45; 19.5 ±1.1 g/L) was signicantly higher than that in the Immediate cord clamping (ICC) group (n = 45; 16.7± 1.1 g/L) (p < 0.05) which was measured after 48hrs. Similarly, haematocrit levels in DCC.