Short umbilical cord
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: Pregnant
Forum Name: Pregnancy
Forum Description: Pregnant! Wanting to chat to other mums-to-be (or dads-to-be)? Share your thoughts, experiences, and ideas... This is that place!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18820
Printed Date: 31 July 2025 at 10:18pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Short umbilical cord
Posted By: pepsi
Subject: Short umbilical cord
Date Posted: 03 July 2008 at 7:51pm
|
When I gave birth to Alyssa I remember the midwife commenting on how short the umbilical cord was..She said she had never seen one so short, and it had to be cut before she could bring her up to my boob cause she wouldn't reach otherwise. I had a pretty good pregnancy and labour really,.. Alyssa was out after only about 20 minutes of pushing..
Anyway, I was just thinking about it again now and decided to google the "short umbilical cord" thing, and there are lots of articles about how babies with short cords have a higher risk of being stillborn and that labour can be difficult.. a few other worrying bits of information - but in saying that I had no idea the cord was short until the birth as it wasn't picked up by any ultrasounds. I assume it's random and one site says about 6% of babies are delivered with a short umbilical cord. I'm going to mention it to my midwife as I'm thinking I'd like another scan to check this out specifically, but I dunno..maybe that's being paranoid? So did anyone else have this with their child(ren)? |
Replies:
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 03 July 2008 at 7:55pm
|
no one said mine were short but the babies woulndt have reached my boobs either till they were cut! ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
|
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 03 July 2008 at 7:57pm
|
Yup, all three of mine had short cords, it's recorded in my notes that they had to have their cords cut before I could hold them. I do wonder if it's a genetic thing. I didn't know about the stillbirth association, but I would have thought a long cord would be just as risky coz it can get tangled/tied in knots.
I don't know if they can check it via u/s tho? They can check the cord insertion and the blood flow thru the cord with dopplers but I'm not sure about cord length coz it's all screwed up in there. ETA: when I say short, I mean really short, not like I've seen in birth videos etc. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
|
Posted By: pepsi
Date Posted: 03 July 2008 at 8:22pm
|
Well it sounds like it's not that uncommon...I suppose it's just cause my m/w made such a big deal about it at the time it had me thinking..
This was some of the info from one of the sites.. Short umbilical cords under 35cms increase the chances of stillbirth by 6 times. Umbilical cords under 25cms are found to be associated with neurological dissabilities and increase the risks of spina bifida. The umbilical cord is the lifeline to the fetus and continues to grow throughout the whole pregnancy most rapidly in the first 28 weeks the length of the umbilical cord has some association of growing more with active babies or not growing as much with babies in the breech position. Factors like smoking and toxemia can cause more trouble by creating too many blood vessels and channels in the cord. A normal umbilical cord is meant to be 61cms. |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 03 July 2008 at 8:25pm
|
Wow, I have no idea how many cm mine were! Can't even guess coz I wasn't paying that much attention at the time! ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
|
Posted By: Peanut
Date Posted: 03 July 2008 at 8:27pm
|
Yip, My MW also commented on how short my cord was to. It was the shortest she had seen but didn't cause me any problems and didn't seem to effect my labour.......not that I had a straight forward labour anyway due to PE. -------------  
|
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 03 July 2008 at 8:56pm
|
I know someone who had a short cord with one of her babies and it seemed to be the reason that he was never not breech. Anyway, he was one of 6 kids but the only one with the short cord.
My experience is of long cords. All three of my girls have had cords so long that they were loosely around their necks (1, 2 and 3 times -- eek!). So maybe it does have genetic tendency? Who knows ------------- |
Posted By: Freesia
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 8:24am
|
My midwife said that Olivia had a short umbilical cord too but I wasn't told how long and I didn't see it written anywhere on my notes. Olivia's heartrate shot up to over 200bpm after 3 pushes and we ended up with a c-sect straight away but they never attributed it to the short cord.
I asked my midwife if it should've been picked up on an ultrasound but she said it's impossible for them to measure because they are all curled up. She said it was a random thing and that the next baby could be fine but it's something I'll be a bit worried about for next time too. -------------  
|
Posted By: jack_&_charli
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 8:53am
jack's cord was short and he was breech. mw made a note of it on the records....but nothing was said about charli's cord so i'm guessing hers was normal ------------- http://www.alternatickers.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
|
busymum wrote:Posted By: Rachael21
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 11:11am
|
Jacks was short too, I had a water birth and could only just get his head out of the water.
Capreces was really long and even had a true knot in it. |
Posted By: Two Blondinis
Date Posted: 04 July 2008 at 9:34pm
|
I have *counts* 4 words to say to you...
STAY AWAY FROM GOOGLE! Now repeat after me "Google is not my friend, Google is baaaad!" 
Hun, if you're worried I would definitely speak to your MW as she knows your case and your circumstances rather than scaring the bejaysus out of yourself reading worst case scenarios on the net. Just for the record, Caitlin must have had a fairly long cord as she managed to wrap it around her neck twice AND it also had a true knot in it (apparently very lucky - or lucky she didn't hang herself  ).
Big hugs to you, you and bubs will be just fine  ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
 
|
Posted By: Nutella
Date Posted: 21 January 2010 at 4:49pm
|
Just wanted to bump this topic coz I ended up having an emergency c sect due to a short cord making the placenta start to abrubt....apparently was about half the length of a normal one. Silly me, started looking on google which I know is not my friend and so thought I would post on here instead to see if anyone has had any more experiences with this?
I am wondering what the chances are of this happening again with the next baby - it has made me want to have an elective c sect next time because I don't want to go through that scare again but at the same time know that the more c sects I have the trickier it becomes...so not really sure. If anyone has any experience can you please post  ------------- 
Oct 11
|
Posted By: Peanut
Date Posted: 21 January 2010 at 10:26pm
|
My second baby had a normal length cord that he manage dto have wrapped around his neck. -------------
|
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 07 February 2010 at 9:24pm
|
I've now had 4 babies with short cords, it wasn't a problem with the first 3 but lil miss had hers around her neck and coz it was so short, she couldn't descend so her heartrate was plummeting with each contraction and her head was advancing then popping back in again. Fortunately my midwife realised what the problem was and cut the cord while lil miss was still inside me, then she flew out like she was "on a skateboard" according to one of my support people. At the time I didn't realise how serious it was, but I did get quite freaked out a few weeks later when I thought about it and processed it and realised how easily we could have lost her had my midwife not acted so quickly . ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
|
Posted By: Raspberryjam
Date Posted: 07 February 2010 at 9:41pm
Totally agree with you!!! ------------- http://lilypie.com] 
http://lilypie.com] 
http://lilypie.com] 
|
Posted By: Emmi_
Date Posted: 07 February 2010 at 9:45pm
|
Wow Maya, what a great MW!! ------------- 
+1 May 09 Angel
|
Posted By: fire_engine
Date Posted: 07 February 2010 at 9:46pm
But it's so tempting, it's just there and it gives you instant answers to everything
------------- Mum to two wee boys |
Posted By: Nutella
Date Posted: 27 March 2012 at 1:09pm
|
Ok am bringing this back to life again since I am now knocked up haha.
This time apparently I have a retroverted uterus and am hoping this doesn't affect the cord length since it sometimes seems to be associated with early interuterine constraint...but dunno if the funny uterus can cause this or not. So has anyone out there had this in recent times and want to share. Every time I think about how close we were to losing our little guy it makes me well up and I do wonder how I will cope with trying for a vbac.....and whether it is worth it (the only reason I want one is for recovery, couldn't care less about experiencing natural birth blah blah) -------------
Oct 11
|
Posted By: LMSunshine
Date Posted: 27 March 2012 at 11:14pm
|
I have a retroverted uterus and I was told with my son that it wouldn't stay that way by about 12-13 weeks because there wasn't enough room. Had no problems as a result and was told that I shouldn't either.
------------- <a href="http://lilypie.com/"><img src="http://lb2f.lilypie.com/1ytlp10.png" width="400" height="80" border="0" alt="Lilypie Second Birthday tickers" /></a> |
Posted By: squoggs
Date Posted: 28 March 2012 at 10:47am
|
I had both babies with short cords. No problems in pregnancy, or labour or afterwards. But I did haemorrage with both of them as the cords ripped my placentas out. I had both babies in botany maternity, and MW dealt quickly and efficiently with both of them, no problems apart from the mess! 100 years ago, it may have been a different story, but as far as im concerned, both could have been homebirths and still been ok :-) ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: Nutella
Date Posted: 28 March 2012 at 11:17am
|
I had placental abruption too with the short cord but had to have emergency c sect which is why a bit nervous! No way would I having a home birth, I want to be monitored throughout ha and whisked off to theatre if anything goes wrong!!
I was told that just coz it happened once does not increase the risk of it happening again but from what I have heard, it sounds like it does? -------------
Oct 11
|
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 08 April 2012 at 8:00am
|
I had two normal births, no mention of cord length! Greer had a short cord, it was commented on, she was also breech right up til 33 weeks so maybe that had something to do with it?
We had multiple scans from 34 weeks and it was never picked up. ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |