When to Cut the Cord: teacher key

Belly Buttons, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. A few seconds in the delivery room can change how much iron a newborn stores. See how medicine changed its mind about the cord, and what the belly button keeps.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What did doctors do before the 1960s?
   • They cut the cord almost right away
   • They sometimes waited five minutes or more (answer)
   • They never cut the cord
2. What benefit does waiting to cut the cord give a full-term baby?
   • A longer cord
   • A smaller stump
   • More iron stored in the body (answer)
3. Why do hospitals that delay clamping watch newborns closely?
   • Waiting may slightly raise the chance of jaundice (answer)
   • The cord grows back
   • The baby cannot breathe
4. When might a doctor not wait to clamp the cord?
   • When the baby is large
   • When the baby needs emergency help (answer)
   • When the baby is asleep
5. What does the word hernia mean?
   • A bulge where part of the intestine pushes through a weak spot (answer)
   • A yellow tint on the skin
   • A type of bacteria

Words

• amnion: baby's water bag
• ligament: tough string
• hernia: bulge through muscle
• jaundice: yellow skin tint
• ultrasound: sound-wave scan