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UMBILICAL CORD NEWS!
Most
breeders hurry to tie the umbilical cord off an inch or two from the belly.
Better to wait to cut the cord unless
the placenta doesn’t come out with the puppy which puts the
newborn at risk of
umbilical hernia.
If that happens, hold her still while you watch for the next
contraction, then grasp the umbilical cord with a paper towel for
non-slip holding and gently pull with steady pressure. The placenta
usually pops right out but if it doesn’t, wait and repeat with the next
contraction. Then let the dam get on with chewing the cord. If
she acts stupid, go ahead and cut the cord with dull
scissors. I’ve used the same pair for 45 years. Note: if she has
several contractions but no placenta, stop trying to work the umbilical cord
out, it could be tangled around a puppy. Just keep count of placentas.
 A few years ago I had an epiphany that is finally backed up by
medical science. My beloved Jane taught me what they fail to
teach in vet or medical school. So I attend every birth but
I don't interfere unless it is really necessary. What you're
going to learn probably contradicts what you've been taught and what
most vets
still do.
Before we get to the new science, let’s do a quick review.
What does the dam do? She licks the newborn. Lick, lick, lick. It
stimulates the puppy. If you leave her alone,
she gets the puppy going quite nicely.
I hear someone saying
you have to “sling” a puppy that can’t breathe. So I’ll digress. I watch to see that every whelp gasps and
takes in that first big breath. If a newborn is blue, limp, not
moving; grab him and the placenta using a paper towel to
maintain a
firm grip on the slippery puppy. Stand up. Cradle him on his back
in both hands. Raise your hands over your head and sling
the puppy forcefully downwards between your knees. You may have to repeat
if he’s seriously oxygen-deprived. The centrifugal force clears the
lungs and probably scares hell out of the newborn, causing him to
reflex-gasp. Whatever, it works.
Okay, back to a normal delivery. Mom is cleaning the
puppy, rolling
him to and fro and if she’s really good at this, she’ll begin to
nudge him closer to her warm udders. Note I didn’t say squat about
she’s gnawing the cord. Her first job is to
rip the sack away from the head. Then she licks
and stimulates the puppy. That gets him going. He gasps, inflates
his lungs.
If you didn’t interfere (vets
immediately clamp the umbilical, put the pup on a towel and let him drag the forceps
around!!), it probably took her from one to three minutes before she
gets around to chewing the umbilical cord. Read that again! SHE
was in NO HURRY to cut the cord. Instinctively, she does
first things first.
She licked him vigorously to stimulate blood
circulation through the still-attached umbilical cord
which was delivering the final oxygen
and blood transfer from her body to his. Now that he’s out there on his own, he needs
all his hemoglobin and stem cells and it takes a minute or two
to drain from the placenta. Have you ever noticed how she
pulls it higher than the pup as she chews through the cord? Gravity helps
drain the good stuff into the newborn pup?
Who knows, but finally, she shreds the lifeline through which he breathed and ate
for 60 to 65 days.
If she's tired or inexperienced and it becomes necessary
to cut the cord, do not use sharp scissors.
You noticed that her teeth grind and shred the umbilical cord.
If we interfere, she sighs in resignation and goes on cleaning her newest
treasure but if you don’t upset her, she’ll
leave the umbilical cord alone until she’s satisfied the pup is
wiggling and breathing. Don’t panic if he drags the sack as he struggles to the udder. Remember what the vets
do…
Before you skip to the tantalizing text below, note
that humans once knew what nature programs into every species. Then
along came obstetricians who took over the midwife’s job. A good
midwife did exactly what a good bitch does. She cleaned the
newborn’s face, made sure he was breathing and had turned baby
pink. She then laid him on his mother’s belly and cut the
umbilical cord.
(Don’t think about how primitive humans cut the cord.)
Then obstetricians replaced nature and you wonder how we ever did it
alone!
Okay, here’s the science that you just figured
out you knew all along. So when your protégé calls for that
last bit of whelping advice, be sure you tell them about the
umbilical cord. Or better yet, send this to them now!
"Many clinical studies have revealed that the delayed cord clamping
elevates blood volume and hemoglobin and prevents anemia in infants.
Moreover, since it was known that umbilical cord blood contains
various valuable stem cells such as hematopoietic stem cells,
endothelial cell precursors, mesenchymal progenitors and multipotent/pluripotent
lineage stem cells, the merit of delayed cord clamping has been
magnified." March 2010 Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
When a baby is born it must transfer from receiving oxygen from the
placenta to receiving oxygen from its lungs. For this to happen, the
baby's lungs must first expand, and the burst of blood from the
umbilical cord helps to get the newborn's lungs to expand properly.
Without the burst of blood from the placenta, the infant suffers a
drop in blood pressure as its lungs fail to open as they should,
creating a chain reaction of effects that can include brain damage
and lung damage. Immediate cord clamping can cause hypotension,
hypovolemia (decreased blood volume) and infant anemia, resulting in
cognitive deficits.
October 2010 Dr. Mercola', Natural Health Center
"The optimal time to clamp the umbilical cord for all infants
regardless of gestational age or fetal weight is when the
circulation in the cord has ceased, and the cord is flat and
pulseless (approximately 3 minutes or more after birth)."
The World Health Organization (WHO)
Dr. David Hutchon, a consultant obstetrician, writing in the British
Medical Journal says “cords are now also clamped early to collect
cord blood and cord stem cells to be used for various medical and
commercial purposes. But the evidence is clearly emerging that the
most beneficial use for cord blood may be to allow it to transfer to
the baby immediately at birth.
While most full-term babies have enough blood to establish lung
function and prevent brain damage from early clamping, the process
often leaves them pale and weak. For premature babies, the process
can be even more devastating. And no matter what, immediate cord
clamping will cause some degree of asphyxia and loss of blood volume
because it contributes to...”
Autism, cerebral palsy, anemia (well duh!), learning and behavioral
disorders, and of course, respiratory distress. How are your
litters doing?
http://www.thedogplace.org/Reproduction/Umbilical-Cord-10122_Andrews.asp
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