Judy's 3,4,5 Protocol
At birth, immediate continuous skin-to-skin contact with
the baby is initiated for the first 3'Á minutes postpartum.
Don't cut the cord before 3 minutes. The midwife keeps her
hands off the fundus.
At 4 minutes the midwife directs the mother into a good
deep squat with her bottom almost touching the floor and
her feet flat on the floor or the floor of an empty bathtub,
over a low plastic bowl if midwife wishes to measure blood
loss. If the mother has agreed to the cord being cut, the
mother hands the baby to someone. The midwife gives
verbal encouragement to push. The woman will not feel a
contraction - she pushes without feeling a contraction. If the
placenta is not delivered by 5 minutes 0 seconds, the midwife
helps the cord to come further out by gently pulling it down
about 5-15 cm in length in order to reassure the mother and
herself that the placenta is very low and all she has to do is
push.