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One-time umbilical cord milking after cord cutting has same effectiveness as multiple-time umbilical cord milking in infants born at <29 weeks of gestation: a retrospective study

Abstract

Objective:

To compare two strategies to potentiate the effects of placental transfusion in infants born at <29 weeks of gestation.

Study design:

Twenty infants who received one-time umbilical cord milking after umbilical cord cutting were compared with 20 infants from a previous study group who received multiple-time umbilical cord milking. The primary outcome measurements were the probability of not needing a red blood cell (RBC) transfusion during the hospital stay and the total number of RBC transfusions within 21 days after birth.

Result:

There was no significant difference in the probability of not needing a transfusion during the hospital stay (P=0.75) and the mean number of RBC transfusions given within the first 21 days of life (1.1±1.8 for the one-time umbilical cord-milking group vs 0.7±1.2 for the multiple-time umbilical cord-milking group, P=0.48).

Conclusion:

One-time umbilical cord milking after umbilical cord cutting had similar beneficial effects to multiple-time umbilical cord milking before umbilical cord cutting in very premature infants.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by MEXT KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) Grant Number 26461649.

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Correspondence to S Hosono.

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Hosono, S., Mugishima, H., Takahashi, S. et al. One-time umbilical cord milking after cord cutting has same effectiveness as multiple-time umbilical cord milking in infants born at <29 weeks of gestation: a retrospective study. J Perinatol 35, 590–594 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2015.15

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