Chapter 12: Pushing – Stage 2 of labor
To use a bulb syringe
Sterilize a bulb syringe before you use it. Suction the mouth and throat
until they are clear of mucus. Then suction the nose. (Practice using
the syringe to suck up water before you use it at a birth.)
Squeeze
the syringe.
Gently put the
syringe in the
baby’s throat.
Release the
syringe as
you wiggle
it around.
The bulb
will suck up
mucus. (Do not
squeeze the syringe
while it is in the mouth.)
Squeeze out
the mucus.
Cut the cord when it turns white and stops pulsing
Most of the time, there is no need to cut the cord right
away. Leaving the cord attached will help the baby to
have enough iron in his blood. It will also keep the baby
on his mother’s belly where he belongs.
When the baby is just born, the cord is fat and blue.
If you put your finger on it, you will feel it pulsing. This
means the baby is still getting oxygen from his mother. Wait!
OK to cut.
When the placenta separates from the wall of the
womb, the cord will get thin and white and stop pulsing. Now the cord can be cut,
usually after about 3 minutes. (Some people wait until the placenta is born before
cutting the cord. This is a healthy custom.)
How to cut the cord
Use a sterile string or sterile clamp to tightly tie or
clamp the cord about
2 finger widths from
the baby’s belly.
(The baby’s risk of
getting tetanus is
greater when the cord is
cut far from his body.)
Tie a square knot.
Put another sterile
string or clamp a little
farther up the cord.
To tie a square knot
the 1st
loop of a
square knot
the 2nd
loop of a
square knot
Right over left,
left over right,
makes a square knot
secure and tight.
214
A Book for Midwives (2010)