I’d like to use something other than the horrible plastic cord clamp for this baby but I’m not quite sure what to use. Does anyone gave any suggestions/experience of some sort of soft cord tie? Thanks very much in advance!
I’ve definitely heard of people using a fabric tie, I think the idea of something soft is good, it’s not something I’ve seen personally though so I’m not sure if you can buy in a sterile pack or have to prepare yourself. I did think of it with my last baby, but forgot when it came to it, much like the music and candles I’d planned!
We used embroidery thread. Three pieces plaited, boiled, put in a freezer bag and frozen until the day.
As it was our lotus birth partialy went ahead, and we cut the cord after 10 hours due to it being very shirt.
If we had to cut it earlier then apparently embroidery thread is fine.
It’s worth asking your midwife whether they have any sterile ligatures - some areas do and some don’t apparently. If not, an unopened pack of dental *tape* does the job very cheaply. Our midwife said not to use floss as it was too thin and could therefore cut through the cord. Apparently it really doesn’t matter whether or not it is “minty fresh” - I did ask!
We’ve got some of those plastic clips at home (from Ikea; great for keeping packets of food closed). What a good idea to use something nicer. I don’t see why it would have to be sterile, so I am sure that you could use whatever you wanted. You could go for natural twine of some sort, or ribbon. Some people have a blue ribbon on their wedding day for the ‘something blue’, which would be a cool thing to use.
Apparently there is an *outside* chance that a baby can hemorrage through the cord for several hours after birth, so it does need to be something that can be pulled good and tight - a ribbon is a bit slippery; I can see how plaited embroidery thread would work. I’m not sure why it’s supposed to be sterile either…
Brilliant-thanks everyone! I’ve got loads of embroidery thread so will get plaiting! This may be a silly question, but when you say three pieces do you mean three individual threads/strands, or three ‘bundles’ of threads (how embroidery thread comes ie not pulled apart)? I hope that makes sense!
My midwife said it needed to be ‘flat’ rather than round ideally as round can cut through the cord if pulled really tight. We used ribbon on Sol’s, and just boiled it before popping it on.
Yes, my friened also used embroidery thread, and it will be my choice this time too, those plastic clips are so BIG!!! they really get in the way of dressing and nappy changes and seem to be so heavy as to pull on the umbilicus area. I felt bad last time for not researching more on other options when I saw my dd’s looking pulled. This time I will get a head and have my freezer bag ready!
