Heard the report on the radio just now.  What follows is my summary of the
story as presented on http://www.sr.se/ekot/artikel.asp?artikel=2396359

Breastfeeding is not mentioned, but I am posting this because breastfeeding
is often mistakenly held responsible for a baby's iron status, and it seems
that iron is one of those nutrients we are meant to be born with, with a
minimal amount being obtained through diet in the first half year of life.  

A review of the literature on timing of cord clamping has led Swedish health
authorities to recommend that all healthy babies have their cord left intact
for two to three minutes after birth, to avoid iron deficiency anemia at the
age of four to six months.  Current practice is to clamp the cord
immediately, ostensibly to prevent jaundice from too high a blood volume.
The review of the literature showed that the risk of jaundice is minimal,
but the risk of anemia is significant.   The review also showed that the
newborn is deprived of important immunologic components of blood when cord
clamping is immediate.  

They are now planning to recommend that the baby be held at a lower level
than the placenta for a minute or so, while it is being dried off and given
a chance to 'scream itself up a little' (my translation - it sounds just as
bad in Swedish, believe me!).  I assume the aim is to get the vascular bed
in the lungs properly filled with blood while the cord is intact.  They
expect to see far fewer anemic children in the second year of life.

It's likely that this is a Cochrane review, though that wasn't mentioned in
the version of the story as presented in the mass media.  One of the authors
of the review is obstetrician Lennart Nordström, from Karolinska University
Hospital, and he was interviewed for this story.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway 

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