Effect of Time of Cord Clamping on Serum Bilirubin Level among Full Term Babies Born at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital: A Three Arm Randomized Control Trial.

Abstract Background: Delayed cord clamping (DCC) above one minute is associated with nutritional and developmental benefits newborns. DCC could also lead to elevated serum bilirubin, leading to jaundice that require phototherapy at the early ages of life. However, evidence on the relationship between DCC and outcomes is limited in resource-limited settings.Objective: To evaluate the effect of the time of cord clamping on serum bilirubin level at 24 hours post-birth in an Ethiopian Tertiary Care hospital.Methods: A three-arm, single-blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted between October 2019-January 2020 targeting healthy, full-term neonates. Study participants were randomly assigned into one of the following interventions depending on the timing of cord clamping: immediate cord clamping (<30 seconds), intermediate cord clamping (60 sec), and delayed cord clamping (180 seconds). The primary outcome is serum bilirubin level in the newborns, which was assessed at 24-hour after birth and before they were discharged home. Descriptive analysis was applied to assess differences between groups in terms of demographic, obstetric, and social characteristics of participants, while linear regression model was employed to examine the association between cord clamping time and serum bilirubin level. STATA version 14 was used for statistical analyses.Result: A total of 141 term newborns were included and randomized into the three categories. Demographic, social and obstetrics factors of the women were not different across groups except labor duration that had a P-value < 0.05. Time of cord clamping was not a significant predictor of total serum bilirubin levels at 24 hours post-birth, whereas cord blood total serum bilirubin (coef. 0.24; p<0.05) and bilirubin nomogram high-risk zone (Coef. 6.25; p<0.001) were significant predictors.Conclusion: Time of umbilical cord clamping has no effect on the total serum bilirubin level of neonates at least within 24 hours of birth.