South African midwives’ knowledge of the benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping

South African Family Practice

 
 
Field Value
 
Title South African midwives’ knowledge of the benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping
 
Creator Shosha, Akhona Jacobs, Wanda Janse van Rensburg, Zelda
 
Subject Family medicine, midwifery midwives; knowledge; delayed cord clamping; benefits; midwifery obstetric units.
Description  
Background: Immediate umbilical cord clamping has been part of the active management of the third stage of labour for centuries. Despite the benefits of delayed cord clamping, immediate cord clamping remains the routine practice in many countries, including South Africa. The aim of this study was to determine South African midwives’ knowledge of the benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping.
Methods: Employing a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional design, 150 midwives from three Midwifery Obstetric Units (MOUs) in a district in one South African province were sampled through a stratified sampling method to complete the survey with an adapted self-administered questionnaire.
Results: The majority of midwives lacked knowledge of the benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping or were unsure of their knowledge.
Conclusion: There is documented evidence on the benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping for both mother and newborn. Midwives who participated in the research lacked knowledge of these benefits. Identification of the knowledge deficits of midwives regarding the benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping may inform future midwifery education pertaining to delayed umbilical cord clamping and its benefits and may improve the practice thereof.
Contribution: This is the first study in South Africa to report on midwives’ knowledge of the benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor University of Johannesburg
Date 2025-08-08
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Quantitative study
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/safp.v67i1.6154
 
Source South African Family Practice; Vol 67, No 1 (2025): Part 3; 8 pages 2078-6204 2078-6190
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/6154/9710 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/6154/9711 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/6154/9712 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/6154/9713
 
Coverage South Africa, Gauteng 2019-2021 Midwives, working in selected Midwifery Obstetric Units
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Akhona Shosha, Wanda Jacobs, Zelda Janse van Rensburg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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