The umbilical cord wraps around the neck once
Release time : 09/08/2025 09:30:02
Umbilical cord wrapping is a type of umbilical cord abnormality, with the most common occurrence being around the neck of the fetus. It is one of the most important types of umbilical cord abnormalities.
The fetus is wrapped around the umbilical cord for a week. Due to the mild degree of entanglement and compression of the umbilical cord, no clinical symptoms will occur. This entanglement is not dangerous to the mother and the child, and the mother can still deliver it smoothly via the vagina.
Even if the cord wraps around the neck, as long as the fetus's head is less mobile, it is generally not harmful to the fetus if the cord is not tightly constricted.
What is the umbilical cord around the neck? According to a study, in China, the incidence of umbilical cord wrapping around the neck of fetal babies is about 20% to 25%. Among them, the incidence of umbilical cord wrapping around the neck for one week is 89%, and the incidence of umbilical cord wrapping around the neck for two weeks is 11%.
Cervical cord wrapping more than three times around the fetus or encircling the fetus's trunk or limbs is relatively rare.
The umbilical cord exhibits compensatory stretching, and entanglement relaxation does not have a significant impact on the fetus. However, tight entanglements and multiple coils can impair fetal blood supply, potentially leading to changes in fetal heart rate, perinatal hypoxia, asphyxia, and even mortality.
In fact, the crucial factor in prognosis is not the number of loops around the neck but rather the length of the umbilical cord remaining after it has been wrapped.
Even if it only circumnavigated the Earth once, a relatively short length of its perimeter could still lead to a tragic outcome.
Due to the relative shortening of the umbilical cord, it is not uncommon for complications such as hernias, intrauterine prolapse, premature placental separation, and umbilical cord breaks to occur during labor.
In single-embryo twins, the risk is greater.
Danger of the umbilical cord winding around the neck. In the middle of pregnancy, the baby floats comfortably in the warm amniotic fluid in the mother's womb, and the umbilical cord also floats. When the baby develops to a certain extent, it will move in the amniotic fluid, stretch out its hands and feet, and even somersaults. Most of the time, he and the umbilical cord can coexist peacefully, but if he is not careful, he will get his hands, feet or body entangled with the umbilical cord.
When there is enough space, he can turn over and out again, so sometimes the ultrasound examination shows that the umbilical cord is around the neck, but the next time it is found that it is no longer around.
As the baby grows bigger and bigger, the swimming pool of amniotic fluid becomes relatively small for him. He can no longer exercise a lot. At this time, if there is an umbilical cord around his neck, it will not be so easy to get out.
Fortunately, the umbilical cord is of a certain length, and in most cases, the umbilical cord wrapped around the baby's neck acts much like a loose scarf, not imposing any pressure on either the umbilical cord or the baby's neck.
If the umbilical cord is not long enough, or if the playful baby loops it around their neck several times, it will constrict and affect the blood supply to the baby. Then danger creeps in quietly.
Due to compression of the umbilical cord, the supply of nutrition and oxygen decreases, leading to insufficient growth requirements for the fetus. This can result in fetal growth restriction or even fetal distress.
Another risk occurs during childbirth. When natural childbirth happens, the fetus is under the pressure of uterine contractions and needs to descend through a large cervical opening along the birth canal. As the position of the fetus gradually descends, the umbilical cord is also gradually tightened.
Under normal circumstances, the umbilical cord has enough length to safely deliver the fetus. However, in cases of cord rounding, its length is relatively reduced, potentially causing it to be too tight and lead to fetal hypoxia.
What should I do if the umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck? The fetus is wrapped around the umbilical cord for a week. Because the umbilical cord is wrapped and compressed, clinical symptoms will not occur. This kind of entanglement is not very dangerous to the mother and the child, and the mother can still deliver it smoothly via the vagina.
Even if there is a umbilical cord around the neck, as the fetal head activity is relatively small, as long as the umbilical cord is not tightly wrapped around it, it usually does not harm the fetus.
In pregnancy, if there is a phenomenon of umbilical cord entwinement, as long as the fetus continues to move, the pregnant woman need not worry too much.
The more turns a strand has, the more dangerous it becomes.
Therefore, if there is a fetal umbilical cord looping phenomenon, it is necessary to perform regular ultrasound examinations. Sometimes, abdominal sounds that are relatively obvious can be heard.
Therefore, at this time, it is more necessary to listen frequently to the fetal heart rate and pay attention to the fetal movement so that measures can be taken in time.
The easiest way for pregnant women to self-monitor the safety of the fetus in the womb at home is to count the movements of the fetus.
Method for monitoring fetal movement: From the 28th week of pregnancy to the time before labor, observe for one hour in the morning, noon and evening every day. It is convenient to count with soybeans or buttons. Put one soybean or a button every time the fetus moves, and add it to the number of fetal movements.
Multiply the total number of fetal movements in three hours by 4 to get the number of fetal movements in 12 hours.
For normal fetal movements, 30- 40 within 12 hours is the normal range.
During the day, there are two peaks in fetal movement, one is between 7 and 9 p.m., and the other is between 11 p.m. and early morning, with the lowest in the morning.
If pregnant women are busy at work, they can only move for an hour at night.
If it drops to less than 20 times, or less than 3 times per hour, it means that there is an abnormality in the fetus in the womb and should be checked immediately at the hospital.
Can labor be delivered naturally after a week with the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck? If they find that their baby has an umbilical cord around the neck for a week, mothers may be worried about danger during a natural birth and have to have a Caesarean section.
In fact, most cases of cord around the neck once are not likely to cause any harm or threat to the baby as it is generally not tight enough.
In some cases, if the umbilical cord is too tight or too short, it may result in hypoxia before birth, manifested as bradycardia in fetal heart monitoring.
This is also why it is so important to have regular prenatal check-ups.
When giving birth, once the baby's head has been delivered, the midwife or doctor will check if the baby's neck is surrounded by the umbilical cord. Typically, the cord is loosely wrapped around the neck of the baby and thus can easily be unwound from the baby's head.
If the umbilical cord wraps around more than two weeks, it will take some time to unwrap it. At this point, the midwife often advises the mother not to exert downward pressure.
Sometimes the umbilical cord is too tight, and it has to be cut before the baby's whole body is delivered.
A midwife or doctor would use two umbilical clamps to grasp the umbilical cord and then cut it between the two clamps. After this, it's important to quickly remove the baby from the mother's body because the baby can no longer receive blood and oxygen from the placenta.
Sometimes babies are born too quickly, and these methods are not enough time to use.
When the baby is born after passing through the umbilical cord, an experienced doctor or midwife will gently hold the baby's head and allow it to touch the mother's body.
If the fetal heart monitoring shows serious or prolonged problems during labor, the doctor will need to speed up the labor process or perform cesarean delivery, so that the fetus can be delivered as soon as possible.
In very rare cases, if the umbilical cord is severely compressed and persists for a long period of time after birth, the newborn's score will be lowered, there may be brain damage, which can lead to intellectual disabilities or cerebral palsy; if the umbilical cord is extremely compressed and the mother has not started laboring, the baby could have died in utero.
How to effectively avoid umbilical cord wrapping? Umbilical cord wrapping around the neck is an abnormal phenomenon in fetal development during pregnancy. Can it be avoided? Pregnant women can reduce the incidence of umbilical cord wrapping by following these methods.
1. Maintain a proper diet, consume foods rich in nutrients and avoid smoking, alcohol, as well as excessively spicy and stimulating foods, and refrain from consuming raw seafood, uncooked or easily allergic foods.
2. Ensure proper exercise. Choose gentle activities such as walking, swimming, or prenatal exercises when exercising. Avoid vigorous activities and overly noisy environments.
3. Adequate rest is essential, and one should maintain a regular lifestyle. Avoid staying up late and indulge in excessive playtime to prevent overexertion.
4. Appropriate Fetal Education: When conducting fetal education, it is important to select beautiful melodies, maintain a moderate rhythm, and avoid excessively loud sounds. The duration of the music should not be too long, and the frequency of its use must be appropriate.
By following these measures, we can effectively prevent excessive stimulation of the fetus, avoid prolonged periods of excitement and activity in the fetus, and significantly reduce the incidence of umbilical cord wrapping.
The medical information provided in this text is for reference only.
If you feel unwell, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately, and the medical diagnosis and treatment will be subject to offline diagnosis.