Human umbilical cords are clamped and cut to prevent bleeding. Yet other animals either naturally tear or chew the cord without excess bleeding.
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We want to get the cord detached so doctors can examine the baby and make sure there are no major problems. This is easier without the cord in the way, but there’s still a lot of blood in the cord so just cutting it would make a pretty big mess, so it’s clamped to make things easier.
More recently, doctors have started delaying clamping and cutting for a minute or so. As the baby wakes up and starts breathing on their own, they can start to pull back in some of the blood from the cord, gaining some vital nutrients.
Having said that it’s not required. The flow between the baby and the placenta/mom will stop on it’s own shortly after birth and the cord will fall off on it’s own.
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