Originally posted by HatMan:
They do mention, though, that the cord is always clamped and cut several inches away from the baby, and falls off naturally later. (Which only makes sense. Humans and umbilical cords have been around a lot longer than civilization, doctors, and knives.) So it's nothing to do with how the cord is cut. It's just how the skin and muscles form when the baby severs the connection to what's left.
So do they not tie them? Granted I've been sort of occupied while the docs take care of that... I know they use [here] a bright yellow clamp but always assumed they tied it off somewhere too... By the time I've ever gotten a good look at it it's pretty dried up and so on so it's hard to tell what exactly it's doing...
The things you learn on a fic board...
Carol
