What is the umbilical cord? Why does the umbilical cord wrap around the babys neck?

According to folklore, the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck, also known as the corolla, occurs when the fetus is wrapped around the neck by the umbilical cord. This phenomenon can occur at any time during pregnancy or even during childbirth. What causes the umbilical cord to wrap around the neck?

What causes the umbilical cord to wrap around the neck? Is the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck dangerous? Pregnant mothers often worry about this problem. Because if you make a mistake, it will put the child in danger at any time. Therefore, it is very important to find out what causes the umbilical cord to wrap around the neck to prevent it. Let's learn about this topic with SignsSymptomsList in the article below!

What is the umbilical cord?

The umbilical cord acts as a double-ended conduit to deliver oxygen and nutrients from the mother's blood to the fetus. At the same time, through it to carry metabolic products from the fetal blood to the mother's blood for excretion. Transporting oxygen is the primary task of the umbilical cord, if for some reason this transport is interrupted, the fetus will be in danger due to lack of oxygen and if prolonged, it can be fatal.

The umbilical cord has an average length of 50-60 cm. In some cases, the umbilical cord may be shorter than normal, less than 35 cm is called an absolute short umbilical cord. Or when the umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck, arms, legs, and torso during fetal movement to shorten it, the umbilical cord is called relatively short. The longer the umbilical cord, the greater the chance of it getting wrapped around the neck, arms, and legs and getting knotted.

When the baby moves a lot in the womb, it will make the umbilical cord lengthen and stretch more. At this time, the longer the umbilical cord is, the more likely it is to wrap the umbilical cord, causing the risk of blood vessel blockage of the fetus.

The umbilical cord carries nutrients from the mother to the fetus

Some frequently asked questions about the umbilical cord around the neck

Is the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck dangerous?

According to statistics of the Ministry of Health, the rate of fetuses with umbilical cord wrapped around their necks at 24 - 26 weeks gestation is 12%, with full-term babies, this rate increases to 37%.

This is a fairly common case and is considered normal, because it is not as harmful as childhood diseases and is not associated with perinatal mortality. Perinatal mortality is the death of an infant one week after birth. This is why doctors rarely tell a pregnant woman that her baby has an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, except in serious, life-threatening cases.

The umbilical cord wrapped around the neck is usually not dangerous, except in a few special cases

How to detect baby has umbilical cord wrapped around neck?

The phenomenon of umbilical cord wrapped around the neck usually occurs in the last 3 months of pregnancy. The identification is through ultrasound diagnostics. In the earlier case, the baby can have a corolla around the neck at 5 - 6 months.

Another way to diagnose can also be through abnormal signs of fetal movement more or less than normal. Or when the umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck, it will cause tightness, lack of oxygen, at this time the fetus will have more difficulty breathing, more abnormal, pregnant mothers can clearly feel these abnormal changes and go to the doctor in time.

What should pregnant women do when the fetus is wrapped around the neck?

When discovering that the fetus has the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck, pregnant women should not be too worried and stressed. In fact, in many cases, babies can remove the umbilical cord wrapped around their neck by themselves at 18-25 weeks of pregnancy.

In case the fetus is wrapped around the neck by the umbilical cord when it is quite large and cannot be removed by itself, what the mother needs to do at this time is to have an antenatal checkup according to the doctor's schedule. Monitor the fetus, when the baby kicks too much or too little, you need to see a doctor immediately.

Why does the umbilical cord wrap around the baby's neck?

Monitoring the cycle and health status of the fetus week by week, month by month is essential. 

In the first months of pregnancy, the fetus is still small, like a lump of meat in a large water tank, so it moves easily in the womb. During that movement, the long umbilical cord easily wraps around the baby's neck and body. The fact that the fetus moves a lot in the uterus can easily cause the umbilical cord to become knotted. When the umbilical cord is both wrapped around the neck and knotted, it will cause many dangers.

In the last 3 months of pregnancy, the fetus will turn its head down called a dominant pregnancy, the umbilical cord is now softer and smoother, which is easy to wrap around the baby. The umbilical cord wrapped around the fetus can be removed by itself during fetal movement. However, when it is wrapped around the neck, this place is a narrow gap between the head and shoulders that makes the umbilical cord unable to untangle itself anymore, and tends to wrap even tighter. 

The main cause of the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck is due to excessive labor and exercise. This has been scientifically proven when the mother is overworked, the fetus will tend to turn its head down more, leading to the umbilical cord that wraps the baby's neck. Therefore, pregnant women need to be very attentive during pregnancy, avoid doing heavy work, should do light activities, do exercises for pregnant women to have good health for both mother. and baby. 

Active mother is one of the reasons why the umbilical cord wraps around the baby's neck

The doctor shared, in pregnant women with polyhydramnios or amniotic fluid, there is also an increased risk of the fetus having the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck, especially in the last months of pregnancy. Another common cause is that the umbilical cord is too long for the baby to be wrapped around the neck. 

Consequences of the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck

In cases where the umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck very rarely, there are cases of dangerous complications. If you are worried about your pregnancy, you can discuss this issue with your gynecologist for peace of mind. Usually, when the umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck of the fetus, it will lead to the following problems:

• The umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck or knotted, the process of transporting blood and oxygen will be interrupted and hindered. This affects the development of the baby, causing lack of oxygen, anemia, affecting heart rate, even stillbirth in the womb. 
• During labor, the umbilical cord around the neck will tighten, causing the fetus to hang on high, difficult to pass through the uterus to come out. If handled in time, the child will come out safely. But if the umbilical cord is wrapped too tightly, it can cause severe hypoxia and death. 
• In case the umbilical cord wraps a lot around the neck, affecting the normal turn of the fetus and birth, the doctor will have to appoint the pregnant woman to have a caesarean section to avoid causing adverse effects on the baby.
• After giving birth, the mother should not be too negligent in observing that the baby has been wrapped in the umbilical cord around the neck, if there are signs of convulsions, trembling limbs, it is necessary to take the baby to the doctor as soon as possible. Because the umbilical cord wraps around the neck, it reduces the growth of the newborn, greatly affects the baby's weight and brain.

The umbilical cord wrapped around the neck causes some effects on the baby

Tips to help limit the umbilical cord wrapping around the neck

The umbilical cord around the neck is quite common but still causes great concern for pregnant women and their families. So to limit this situation, pregnant women should pay more attention to their daily activities and follow a few ways as follows:

• Avoid vigorous activity: Being active and vigorous makes pregnant women easily tired and stressed, which easily causes the phenomenon of the umbilical cord wrapping around the neck.
• Avoid frequent strong belly rubs: The belly rub during pregnancy is a habitual action of many pregnant women. However, that makes the baby in the womb respond and be more active under the guidance of the mother, at this time the umbilical cord is very easy to wrap around the body, legs, hands, especially the neck of the baby.
• Limiting going to bed late: Besides the symptoms of anorexia, pregnancy, difficulty sleeping, sleeping late is also a fairly common symptom that occurs in pregnant women. This leads to stress as well as disrupts the biological clock of both mother and baby, the baby will be more active. Therefore, mothers need to pay more attention to their sleep to ensure the health of themselves and the fetus in the womb.
• Sleeping in the right position: Doctors recommend that pregnant women absolutely avoid lying on their backs, but should lie on their side to help better blood circulation as well as provide enough oxygen and nutrients. 

Sleeping in the right position helps blood and oxygen circulate better

Umbilical cord entanglement is a fairly common phenomenon and does not pose a serious danger to the fetus. It is considered a normal physiological phenomenon of pregnancy, so when this happens, pregnant women and family members should not worry too much. Pregnant women should live in moderation and consult a doctor about their own condition to make timely appropriate adjustments, good for the fetus.

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