Companies profit because parents are unaware
Vita 34 and other companies are promoting the storage of umbilical cord blood.
At a trade fair, we photographed a promotional poster from this company featuring six claims and consulted the gynaecologist Prof. Sven Hildebrandt (SH) on the medical aspects. 
We then asked several midwives about their observations. Prof. Hildebrandt’s responses and the midwives’ comments are set out below:
Claim 1 of the compagnies: The (procedure) retrieval is painless and poses no risk to either mother or child.
SH: The (procedure) retrieval requires the umbilical cord to be cut beforehand. To what extent this intervention – which is not part of nature’s design – is painless, no one can say.
– The stored blood is the baby’s own blood, which is removed from the physiological circulation after birth. The blood loss caused by the clamping of the umbilical cord results in significantly lower haemoglobin levels in the baby, which may affect the baby’s cognitive [mental] development.
Claim 5 of the compagnies: (Used to) as a treatment used in over 80 conditions, such as cancer, childhood brain damage or cardiovascular disease.
SH: When weighing up the risks and benefits, it is important to consider the prevalence of the conditions and whether the same (or better) chances of recovery might be available through third-party donations or stem cell collection via bone marrow aspiration in the event of illness. This is certainly the case for a number of the conditions included here.
Claim 6: Numerous other treatments and areas of application are being tested in clinical trials.
SH: Irrelevant, as this has not yet been proven.
We asked midwives what they observe when cutting the umbilical cord and what they tell the parents about it.
“Cutting the umbilical cord before it has stopped pulsating is highly questionable and unnatural. It severely disrupts the physiological processes of the placental period and can lead to disturbances of the placental detachment period.“
“I compare it to an astronaut stepping out of the spacecraft for the first time and having to manage without a power cable straight away.”
“The placenta, together with the blood it contains, is an organ of the child and must not, or rather should not, under any circumstances be separated from the child until both have left the womb.”
“I explain that the pulsating umbilical cord acts as a sort of ‘safety net’ or ‘lifeline’ for the children in case they find it difficult to adjust to breathing. After early cord clamping, children often experience a mild state of shock that can last for a shorter or longer period, depending on how they are feeling.”
“The baby establishes its own oxygen supply through breathing. Once this is stable, the baby feels secure, and clamping the umbilical cord no longer restricts the (oxygen) O2 supply and therefore does not trigger any panic (no oxygen = life-threatening, hence the baby’s fear of death).”
“I make it clear that the child is being deprived of an important resource for a purpose that is by no means sufficiently substantiated, and that I will not take that risk outside a clinical setting.”
“Following delayed cord clamping, babies reach a full APGAR score (10) more quickly, and there is less need for oxygen administration or other resuscitation measures. There is no increase in the incidence of neonatal jaundice, and there are fewer cases of failure to thrive, weight loss and iron or ferritin deficiency in the first few months of life.”
How is blood (collected) for storage purposes collected?
The umbilical cord is clamped immediately after the baby has left the womb. ‘Immediately’ means within 30 seconds, right in the middle of the respiratory transition. ‘Immediately’ also means that whilst the baby’s blood is still flowing back towards the baby at high pressure, the natural circulation is interrupted. Nature has designed it this way so that the baby has the best possible start, with a supply of oxygen, iron and stem cells. This accounts for at least one-third of the baby’s total blood volume.
The German Red Cross adheres to the rule that people weighing less than 50 kg and under the age of 18 are not permitted to donate blood.
As many hospitals no longer take part in blood donation schemes, the company’s website features a hospital locator. And they’re offering cash rewards: €100 is paid if one set of parents refers to another. The business seems to be working, as the millions in turnover show.
2020 guideline (recommendation for midwives): The mother decides whether all of the baby’s blood should enter its body or whether the umbilical cord should be clamped between 1 and 5 minutes after birth.
06/2026
