Nicola Fairgrieve, midwife
Milton Keynes, UK
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Humans aren鈥檛 the only animals to cut the umbilical cord 鈥� cats and dogs bite through them when their offspring are born. However, midwives do delay cord clamping and cutting if the infant is well to allow as much as possible of the blood supply from the placenta to reach them.
Some parents choose not to cut the cord and have a 鈥渓otus birth鈥�, where the placenta is placed in a bag with herbs and salt to help preserve it. It is then carried around with the baby until the cord dries and detaches naturally, usually within between three and 10 days.
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Chris Warman
Hinderwell, North Yorkshire, UK
Almost all placental mammals do, in fact, intervene to sever the umbilical cord of their newborn. The exceptions are marine mammals and camels.
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Great apes usually bite through the cord in the process of eating the placenta. This combines cleanliness with returning nutrients to the birthing ape. The difference between humans and other mammals is that we use an instrument rather than our teeth.
鈥淭he difference between humans and other mammals is that we use an instrument to cut the umbilical cord, not our teeth鈥�
Precisely when during our evolution we began to take a clinical approach to a natural process is unclear. It is part of the bigger mystery of the nature and origin of disgust: why behaviour that is normal to animals evokes strong adverse psychological and physical responses in humans.
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