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Delayed umbilical cord clamping can increase newborn iron stores, while also raising risk for hyperbilirubinemia requiring phototherapy treatment. Some — but not all — studies suggest that delayed cord clamping may reduce mortality in preterm infants and improve developmental outcomes in term infants. Cord milking has been proposed as an alternative to delayed clamping.
To compare delayed cord clamping versus cord milking on preterm newborn outcomes, investigators randomized 474 neonates at 23 to 31 weeks' gestation to delayed clamping (60 seconds) or to milking (holding the newborn below the level of the placenta and milking a 20-cm length of cord toward the infant 3 times). Severe intraventricular hemorrhage (SIH) was more likely in newbor…