Seven Month Developmental Outcomes of Very Low Birth Weight Infants Enrolled in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Delayed versus Immediate Cord Clamping

OBJECTIVES: Results from our previous trial revealed that infants with delayed cord clamping (DCC) had significantly less intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and late onset sepsis (LOS) than infants with immediate cord clamping (ICC). A priori, we hypothesized that infants with DCC would have better motor function by 7 months CA. STUDY DESIGN: Infants between 24 and 316 weeks were randomized to ICC or DCC and follow-up evaluation was completed at 7 months corrected age. RESULTS: We found no differences in the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) scores between the DCC and ICC groups. However, a regression model of effects of DCC on motor scores controlling for gestational age, IVH, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, sepsis, and male gender suggested higher motor scores of male infants with DCC. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed cord clamping at birth appears to be protective of very low birth weight male infants against motor disability at 7 months corrected age.