The umbilical cord is the tube that fed the baby before birth. Cut the umbilical cord, the umbilical cord was around his neck, clamp the umbilical cord.
Delaying the cut by a minute or two lets a substantial amount of blood pass to the baby, which is now standard practice. The figurative use means a dependence that ought to have ended.
1nounumbilical cordThe tube that fed the baby before birth.
“The midwife clamped the umbilical cord and handed the baby to its mother.”
umbilical cord is a cord.
Umbilical, from Latin umbilicus, the navel, plus cord; it replaced the older native navel-string.
From umbilical + cord. Largely displaced native navel-string. 1753.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Babies & Growing Up