Cord Wars – May the Force be with the Baby: Controversial topics in umbilical cord management

Saturday, April 26, 2025

7:00am – 8:30am HST

Location: Convention Center: 316 BC

CE: 1.5

Selected By: Neonatal

Chair(s)

AK

Anup Katheria, MD

Physician
Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns
San Diego, California, United States
Heike Rabe, MD, PhD (she/her/hers)

Professor of Perinatal Medicine
Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex
Brighton, England, United Kingdom

Disclosure(s):

Anup Katheria, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Heike Rabe, MD, PhD: IBT Therapeutics (Terminated, May 31, 2024) (Products/Services: Research Support including clinical trials & the principal or named investigator)

There is a large body of evidence that has now demonstrated that delayed cord clamping (DCC) has benefits for term and preterm infants. These benefits include reductions in morbidities such as mortality in preterm infants. However, there are several situations where immediate clamping is still performed, due to either a lack of evidence or knowledge that these infants also benefit from delayed cord clamping or other methods of providing a placental transfusion. This session will review the translation of bench to bedside, evidence from cord clamping trials and other cohort studies to date, and a physiological rationale for performing DCC in these special circumstances. We have assembled diverse experts on cord management including policymakers, midwives, neonatologists, physiologists and clinical trialists from around the world with extensive knowledge and experience with cord management strategies.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion, participants will be able to understand the translation of animal to human data for cord clamping practices
Upon completion, participants will be able to review the evidence or (or lack of) from the current trials and cohort studies to inform current practice
Upon completion, participants will be able to explore the knowledge gaps and future directions for cord clamping research.

Presentations:

7:00am – 7:12am HST

Placental Menace: Feto-maternal Hemorrhage, Abruptions and Multiples
Speaker: Anup Katheria, MD – Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns
7:12am – 7:24am HST

Revenge of the Infections – COVID-19, HIV and Other Infections
Speaker: Heike Rabe, MD, PhD (she/her/hers) – Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex
7:24am – 7:36am HST

The Hemoglobin Strikes Back – ABO Incompatibility, Polycythemia and Hyperbilirubinemia
Speaker: Ola Andersson, MD PhD (he/him/his) – Lund University
7:36am – 7:48am HST

The Rise of Fetal Hemoglobin – Role in CDH and CCHD
Speaker: Satyan Lakshminrusimha, MD (he/him/his) – UC Davis
7:48am – 8:00am HST

Growth Restriction: Keep the Force with the Baby
Speaker: Judith Mercer, PhD, CNM (she/her/hers) – University of Rhode Island
8:00am – 8:12am HST

The Story of Cord War—a Twisted Story of Cord Management at Birth
Speaker: Tonse NK Raju, DCH, MD (he/him/his) – ECHO Program, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD