The loop or circular cord is one of the great concerns about childbirth, because as is normal, it scares that it could drown the baby, but the truth is that it is quite frequent and usually resolves without major complications.
Between 20 and 40 percent of children are born with turns of the cord and most of the time it does not represent any risk for the baby, there are even babies that come with two or three turns, depending on the length of the cord (the average is 55 cm). But what happens if the cord gets tangled around the baby’s neck at the time of delivery?
How the circular cord is detected and resolved
The baby moves inside the mother’s womb so the cord coils and uncoils around her body, her arm, her leg or her neck, but this does not cause any discomfort to the baby during pregnancy. Only occasionally can it be seen by ultrasound, which is why it is almost always detected only at the time of delivery.
In childbirth, the doctor can see the turn (or turns) of the cord when the baby’s head appears, which is solved with a very simple maneuver : placing the finger between the neck and the cord to undo the circular while the child comes out. . The cord is gelatinous and glides on easily. If it were not so easy because it was somewhat tight, the cord is clamped and cut while the baby is coming out.
Is it a reason for cesarean section?
In the event that the cord is very tight and that when it descends through the birth canal it tenses, decreasing blood flow, the baby will be monitored at all times to detect any signs of fetal distress.
In the event of alterations in the heart rhythm, a cesarean section will be considered, but as we said before, in more than 90 percent of cases the circular cord in the baby’s neck resolves without major complications.
What is uncertain about the return of the cord is that it can become the justification for a cesarean section if the baby does not drop or has alterations in the heart rhythm, when in reality what causes fetal distress is not the compression of the cord itself, but another reason.
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In Babies and more | The return of the umbilical cord in the neck of the fetus and Complications of the umbilical cord in pregnancy
