During pregnancy there may be many umbilical cord complications that may range from mild to severe. Umbilical cord complications in pregnancy may include false knots that have no clinical significance, to vasa previa that may often cause fetal death. Vasa previa is a rare umbilical cord abnormality that occurs as a result of an abnormal cord placement. There are many sophisticated prenatal ultrasound devices that are used to diagnose the various complications of umbilical cord. However, many umbilical cord complications are not noticeable before delivery. In such cases the only warning sign is related to their association with few conditions like placental abruption and monochorionic twins.
There are several other umbilical cord complications that occur during pregnancy of childbirth. The umbilical cord is a tube-like structure, which connects the fetus to the placenta and it begins to develop around five weeks following conception. Sometimes the umbilical cord may be too long or too short or may connect abnormally to the placenta. In other case the umbilical cord may becomes knotted or compressed, which may lead to problems at the time of pregnancy or during labor pain and delivery. In some cases, umbilical cord complications are discovered subsequent to the delivery at the time a doctor examines the cord and the placenta.
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The various umbilical cord complications can adversely affect both the mother as well as the baby. One of the complications related to the umbilical cord is a prolapsed cord. This is a condition that occurs when the umbilical cord slips into the vagina once the membranes have come apart, prior to the baby descending into the birth canal. This is a rare complication and affects about 1 in 300 births. Umbilical cord prolapse may often lead to stillbirth if the baby is not delivered promptly. Generally under such a condition, delivery is done by cesarean section.
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Another umbilical cord complication is called nuchal chord whereby the cords is wrapped around the baby’s necks. Approximately there are 25 percent of babies who are born with cords around their necks. This is not such a serious complication and hardly ever causes any major problems. Knot in the umbilical cord is another complication that occurs during child delivery. Umbilical cord knots most often occur when the cord is too long. In cases of identical-twin pregnancies when the twin shares a single amniotic sac, the babies’ umbilical cord becomes knotted.
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