Umbilical 'cord milking' makes blood flow in preterm cesarean infants better

There is a new technique to improve the blood flow in preterm infants delivered by Cesarean section, claims a new research.

According to the National Institutes of Health study, the technique, known as cord milking, consists of encircling the cord with thumb and forefingers, gently squeezing, and slowly pushing the blood through the cord to the infant's abdomen.

For infants delivered by cesarean, cord milking appears to offer benefits over the standard practice of waiting 45 to 60 seconds before clamping and then cutting the umbilical cord. These benefits, which include greater blood flow to and from the heart, higher red blood cell level, and higher blood pressure, were seen only in the infants delivered by Cesarean.

Tonse Raju, M.D. said that the study results are very encouraging, but the findings need to be confirmed in a larger number of births.

Among the smaller number of infants that were delivered vaginally, the researchers found no differences in the blood volume or blood pressure between the two groups.

The study is published online in Pediatrics.