After the baby has cried well it may be laid on the foot of its mother’s bed. At this juncture it seems pertinent to stress two points which must be remembered throughout the entire routine of the baby’s care, namely: the importance of protecting it from infection and from being chilled. As the baby lies on the mother’s bed, before the cord is cut, it finds itself in a room which is many degrees cooler than the very warm habitat from which it has just emerged; it is struggling to establish its functions, which are suddenly deprived of the mother’s help, chief of which at the moment are respiration and the circulation. Body warmth is one of the most valuable aids in promoting an even circulation, and accordingly the baby should be kept warm from the beginning. For this purpose there should be a small sterile blanket, or piece of flannel, in readiness to protect the little body as it lies on the bed, awaiting further developments. The hands and feet of the newborn baby that lies uncovered for even a quarter of an hour, or more, are nearly always cold, and as this must be guarded against in an older, more securely established baby, it cannot be desirable for the newly born. [Illustration: FIG. 91.—Showing two clamps on cord after pulsation has ceased. ] [Illustration: FIG. 92.—Wrong and right method of tying knot in cord ligature. A will slip. B will not. ] As soon as the cord ceases to pulsate, it is usually clamped with two clamps about two inches apart (Fig. 91) and cut between the clamps. The scissors should have blunt points, in order not to scratch or cut the baby, who may be wriggling vigorously by this time. The cord is tied tightly with a sterile cord ligature, in a square knot that will not slip (Fig. 92), about an inch from the abdominal wall. It is considered a safe precaution, after removing the clamp, to bend the cord back upon itself and tie it a second time with the same ligature, as the danger of hemorrhage from a loosely tied cord is serious when the baby is kept sufficiently warm. The placental end of the cord is also tied, or it remains clamped until the placenta is expelled, because of the possibility of there being another child in the uterus and the danger of its bleeding to death through the open cord. Some doctors do not tie the cord, but crush the vessels with a clamp which is left on the cord for about half an hour and then permanently removed, but this should not be done by a nurse upon her own responsibility.