Todd Gastaldo writes:

Everyone knows that babies breathe through their umbilical cords until they
start breathing with their lungs.

Unborn babies don't breathe at all. They receive oxygen from the
mother's respiration.

Do not let the OB immediately clamp your baby's cord.

Why not? It has ceased to be useful for providing the baby with oxygen
long before it is born.

A newborn baby need only inhale to begin oxygenating itself, and that's
exactly what it will do as soon as it has a chance. The umbilical cord
is not needed. It has been severed from the connections with the mother
much earlier. Communication between the baby's body and the mother's
body through the cord begins to shut down as the process of delivery
starts.

Additionally, neonatess are extremely resistant to anoxia, no doubt
because this resistance helps them to get through delivery, during which
they may be deprived of oxygen for significant periods.

The argument about blood volume seems reasonable enough, but Baby
doesn't need the cord to breathe.

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