The twin births and births of infants where the
umbilical cord was clamped before birth or broke spontaneously
or who were born preterm were all removed
from any further analysis (n = 11). Thus, all subsequent
outcomes are reported for the remaining 89 term
singleton infants. After the birth and before the clamping
of the umbilical cord, 53 (59.6%) infants were
positioned on the mothers’ abdomen, 18 (20.2%) were
held below the introitus (between 5 and 25 cm), 9
(10.1%) at the introitus, and 8 (9.0%) above the introitus
(between 5 and 30 cm). One infant was placed at
the foot of the bed. Immediately after the clamping and
cutting of the umbilical cord, 61 (68.5%) infants were
placed with their mother; 24 (27.0%) were placed in
the warmer; and one infant was handed to the attending
pediatrician (3 cases had missing information for this
field). Cord blood was collected for blood gases in 36
(40.5%) cases, no collection was made in 51 (57.3%)
cases, and 2 (2.3%) cases had missing information for
this field.
More than one-half of all infants had their umbilical
cord clamped at or before 15 seconds (50/89; 56.2%).