There really is overwhelming evidence of the benefits to both delayed cord clamping and getting skin to skin immediately after birth. Delayed cord clamping increases your baby’s blood volume by about 20% from a transfer that takes place after they are born. This additional supply of blood supplies extra iron, which can help guard against anemia in the first year of life, and it is enriched with immunoglobulins and stem cells. Skin to skin contact stabilizes your baby’s heart rate, breathing and temperature and reduces stress in both you and your baby. Your baby instinctively wants to breastfeed and being skin-to-skin with you will foster that. It also increases your interactions with your baby and increases the likelihood and length of breastfeeding. This weeks episodes answers a question about whether the umbilical cord is long enough to get skin to skin with your baby before the cord is cut.