The situation was aggravated by the fact that there was no assistant woman-midwife in the tundra campsite whose help the Dolghans used to seek. The only people present were the mother of the woman in childbed, an elderly lady, and Polina, then very young. In the course of the narrative it comes out that mother should not help her daughter in childbirth. The elderly lady gets very nervous indeed. Polina asks mother to instruct her and tries to help the woman in childbed.
Mother ties the umbilical cord, but very loosely.
Polina ties it more tightly and, not knowing the traditions of the Dolghans properly, asks mother to cut it through. She does so. After some time, the midwife arrives and scolds the mother for having cut through the umbilical cord - both the baby and its mother could have died. The danger is reduced by the fact that the umbilical cord had been re-tied tightly by a stranger. At the end of the narrative it is stated with some suspicion that it is not recommended for a mother to be present at her daughter's giving birth to a baby, let alone cut the umbilical cord of the new-born.