Mention Practice – Series 10

Gaps 10.3

Listen to the audio and fill in the Gaps:

You hear an interview with a midwife called Susan Porter who’s talking about when to cut the umbilical cord.

Today we’re talking with midwife Susan Porter about a rather controversial topic. Susan, why is the question of when to cut the (1) ______ of a (2) ______ still so significant? And can you give us a brief history of the subject?

Well, you’re right in that this question has always been a remarkably (3) ______ topic. And some (4) ______ carried out over (5) ______ across the UK indicates there’s good reason for never having let it go, as the (6) ______ now seems to suggest that (7) ______ and cutting the cord after birth could (8) ______, specifically in babies that are born (9) ______.

It all started in the (10) ______. Shockingly, before that time, women were still regularly having (11) ______ at the time of (12) ______ and were dying, which then prompted the (13) ______, an injection that clamped the womb down (14) ______.

It was the (15) ______ they’d been looking for, because it appeared to be very effective at preventing (16) ______. But of course, there were (17) ______ about that too.

Can you tell us more about that?

One of the (18) ______ was that it worked so well that it would (19) ______ into the baby, effectively filling the baby with blood. So, they very quickly developed the practice of clamping the umbilical cord (20) ______. Obviously, clamping is (21) ______, but thinking has changed so much now that it’s a little strange to think that even in the 1980s the only reason for not clamping within (22) ______ was if you dropped the (23) ______ and had to go and get another one. In other words, it was (24) ______.

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