Study into the benefits of newborns staying connected to the umbilical cord after birth

Researchers are hoping to establish if newborn babies benefit from staying connected to their mother’s umbilical cord in the minutes after birth if they are having difficulty breathing.

The study out of the Royal Women’s Hospital and Monash University will undertake the study over two years.

Dr Doug Blank told Ross and John there’s a lot of questions left to be answered, particularly when a baby isn’t breathing after birth.

“Typically if the baby is not breathing after birth the first thing that we do as a medical team is cut the umbilical cord and move the baby to a platform some place into the room where we push air into the lungs,” he said.

“What we think is that if we bring the equipment that we need to help the baby breathe over the where the baby has been born, we can continue to take advantage of the support provided by the placenta and umbilical cord in the mother.”

Click PLAY to hear the full interview on 3AW Breakfast