EPISODE 5
What I Wish I Had Known About the First Moments After Birth - Cord Clamping, Cord Blood, and Skin on Skin
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id you know that those first moments after the birth of your baby offer incredible opportunities to promote health and long-term development? In this episode, Shazi discusses the birth of her daughter Asha with her OBGYN, Dr. Katherine Kohari – and why she made the decision to bank Asha’s cord blood privately. She also speaks with midwife McKenna Eldh, who explains the benefits of delayed cord clamping – which midwives have always traditionally practiced and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) now also recommends. We also hear from biomedical engineer and CEO of Epibone, Nina Tandon, on the incredible ways that stem cells are being used to repair diseased or damaged tissue later in life.


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Dr. Nina Tandon

Dr. Nina Tandon is CEO and co-founder of EpiBone Inc., the world’s first company growing living human bones for skeletal reconstruction. A TED Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Cooper Union, Tandon has a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the Cooper Union, a Master’s in Bioelectrical Engineering from MIT, a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and an MBA from Columbia University. She also co-authored Super Cells: Building with Biology.

Tandon spent her early career in telecom at Avaya Labs and transitioned into biomedical engineering via her Fulbright Scholarship in Italy, where she worked on an electronic nose used to “smell” lung cancer. After completing her PhD, she consulted at McKinsey and Company. She has been published in Nature Protocols, featured on CNN, in WIRED, the Guardian, and others. Tandon was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company, a 40 under 40 by Crain's New York, and a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer. Nina recently received the 2019 Distinguished Early Achievement Award from Columbia Business School.

Dr. Katherine Kohari

Most of the time, having a baby goes according to plan. For those rare times when issues arise, Yale’s Dr. Katherine Kohari is there to step in. Dr. Kohari specializes in high-risk pregnancies with complications that threaten the well-being of mother, baby, or both. “I enjoy helping mothers navigate through the exciting, yet complex, parts of pregnancy and childbirth,” she says.

Kohari joined the Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine Department’s Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine in 2014. In 2007, she received her MD from New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Dr. Kohari furthered her training with an Ob/Gyn residency and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

Dr. Kohari is a member of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

Mckenna Eldh

Mckenna Eldh is a Certified Nurse Midwife Specialist in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated with honors from State University Of New York Downstate Medical Center in 2015. Mckenna Eldh affiliates with NYP Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.