Care from the first breath

Townsville Hospital clinicians are leading the way in standardising the care provided to infants in their first minutes of life as part of a new research study.

Neonatal nurse practitioner Dr Jackie Smith has begun research that will lead to the development of a Queensland-wide procedure for delayed cord clamping.

Delayed cord clamping is an existing practice in many hospitals where the umbilical cord is cut one to three minutes after birth.

By delaying cutting the cord infants benefit from: higher circulating blood volume, improved oxygenation at birth, improved oxygen saturations and no large increase of blood flow to the brain.

Research has shown this decreases the risk of brain injury, improves iron stores and reduces the need for blood transfusions, particularly in pre-term babies.

Dr Smith said what is missing is a standardised procedure across Queensland public hospitals which her research project is hoping to establish.

“Over the years delayed cord clamping has been proven to be best practice in research and has become standard in many hospitals throughout Queensland and Australia,” Dr Smith said.

“What is missing is a standardised procedure across Queensland public hospitals that ensures consistency of the practice across the system.

“This is an extremely exciting research project that will position Townsville Hospital as a leader in the care we provide infants from their very first breath.”

Clinical nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Louise Thiele is among the research team and said the first step in the project was sending a survey to the 46 birthing units in Queensland.

Ms Thiele said the survey will establish each centre’s perceptions of delayed cord clamping, the existing protocols and guidelines that govern the procedure and how they use cord clamping in different types of births (term, pre-term and caesarean section).

“Once we’ve done this survey we’ll have a thorough understanding of how hospitals in Queensland are using this procedure,” she said.

“We’ll analyse that data and the research team then hope to develop a guideline for delayed cord clamping that will standardise clinical practice in Queensland public hospitals.”

The survey component of the research is expected to be complete within 18 months.