Impact of delayed cord clamping on 5-minute Apgar score and early childhood development at 5 years of age

Objective:
(1) To evaluate the effect of a policy of early versus delayed cord clamping on the 5 minute Apgar score. Specifically, we propose to examine the association between early vs delayed cord clamping and the rate of 5 minute Apgar score of 9 and 10.
(2) To examine the relationship between 5-minutes Apgar score, specifically Apgar score of 9 vs 10, and developmental vulnerability at 5 years of age.

Hypothesis:
(1) Policy of delayed cord clamping will reduce the frequency of peripheral cyanosis leading to decrease in rates of 5 minute Apgar scores of 9 and increases in rates of 5 minute Apgar scores of 10.
(2) Children with Apgar scores of 9 are more likely to have developmental vulnerability at 5 years of age, compared with children with an Apgar score of 10.