Is the tying off and cutting of the umbilical cord a modern/western cultural custom, or has that been done for ages?
I just had a conversation with a cow orker who asserted that you don’t have to cut the cord or tie it off that it could just be left to dry up and shrivel off still attached to the placenta. In this conversation, he compared American Indians in the 19th century to Neanderthals and said neither would have cut the cord.
Well, there are a lot of people who argue that we are a bit too precipitous in cutting the cord. (It should at least be left until the last pulses of blood stop.) But it seems that leaving a big ol’ cord and placenta attached to the baby would be a bit unsanitary, to say the least.
I don’t know how long it would take for the cord to fall off on its own under those conditions. I do know that it can take weeks for the stub of cord left from the cut to come off. We thought my daughter was going off to kindergarten with hers.
According to Desmond Morris in Babywatching, standard modern Western medical practice is to cut the cord when it stops beating, about 5 minutes after birth. In ancient times, however, they waited to cut the cord until the placenta (afterbirth) was delivered, about 15 to 30 minutes after birth. In Hungary, they have returned to the old method and hold the placenta above the baby before cutting the cord. This prevents wasting the baby’s blood that is in the placenta and cord. “This can increase the baby’s blood volume by up to 25 percent and gives it an extra boost as it starts on its new life,” says Morris.
Cow orker? I sincerely hope you meant to say co-worker.
I swear I know people who look (and smell) like they’ve been dragging their placenta around on a tummyleash for years…
A part of the reason the cord takes so long to fall off is due to the antiseptics that are put on it. They inhibit the drying process and thus the cord stays attached longer. When no antiseptics are applied, the cord will fall off in 2-3 days.
I believe most ancient peoples probably bit/cut the cord after the placenta was delivered, about 20-30 minutes after birth.
–tygre
You have never worked with someone with bovine characteristics?
After listening to his treatise about women squatting in the field to give birth and letting the cord and placenta drop off in due time (them not knowing any better), and his enlightening comparisons between Native Americans and Neanderthals cow orker is a generous description.