Cord Around Neck?

my first had his cord around his neck two times and there was a knot in his cord too... doctor said it was VERY rare for that and that she'd never even seen one... he must have been a little gymnist.

I would think the reason that they did a c-section for your friend was because the cord around her baby's neck was causing decelerations in the baby's heartbeat, indicating a problem. If there was any problem with your baby, the monitoring would had caught it. Most babies are born a little blue, and pink up soon after birth.

I know it all sounds scary, but this is one reason why they monitor the baby's heartbeat during childbirth. Please try not to worry.

DON'T WORRY!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all, cords wrapped around the neck are VERY common (and sometimes are wrapped more than once) and don't generally cause problems!!!! It happens A LOT and is not considered abnormal!!!! Also, most newborns (and almost all vaginally delivered newborns) are purple looking at birth anyway/normally due to natural "trama" to them in the birthing process and the fact that they don't take in their OWN oxygen until the first cry. The cord around the neck probably had nothing to do with that look about your son at birth!
Also, it was probably the short delay of the first cry that made your husband a bit worried at the birth of your son. His feel that the hospital staff was worried because they were "rushing" should be eased because the staff "rush" to work no matter what the health/condition of the baby is at that time due to the fact that there are lots of preventive things to do ASAP at every birth (ie suction the airways in order to prevent some possible infections, put drops in the eyes for the same reason, check heart, lungs, etc for any obvious probs., do first reaction testing within the first few minutes and then again later for APGAR scoring, etc).

So, to answer some of your questions/concerns:
1)Your friend probably had a C-section not simply because the baby's cord was around it's neck but mainly because that chord was too tight or there were signs of stress to the baby (appearing by drop or rise of heart-rate, loss or extreme movement of the baby, etc) that may have been caused by a tight chord around the neck.
2) Chords around the neck are common and nothing to worry about as long as other things look fine
3)The chord wrapping around the neck can happen in utero or in the birthing process- If it happens in utero, it will prob. show up on the sonogram if it has already done so by the time they do the sono. If that is so, once again, it doesn't matter as long as the baby is doing fine (heart rate and movement is normal and stays so). If it happens in childbirth, it also probably doesn't matter and will be checked with monitoring. How or when it happens doesn't matter as long as all look good and the baby is fine. All of this will be moniotred by all those machines and cords hooked up to you when you get to the hosp. for delivery
4) Just know that they will know if there is a problem!!!!

In sum: it only causes a concern when it is tight enough around the neck that is cutts off nutrient/air supply (either by being pulled or "clamped off" in utero/birthing process or tight around the neck when the baby's head is born and the baby can't get it's first breath of air because of it).

Ask your doctor about all of this for more ease of mind and so he/she knows your concern and can check into it if need be. But know too that all this info came to me from my doctor (my first born had the chord wrapped around her) and my trained ER/Delivery Nurse friends and moms whom experienced this first hand!

DON'T WORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:)

T.

i have two boys and both had the cords around their necks at birth. one was vaginal and one was c-section. both were completely fine and my doctor said it happens all the time. i would try and not worry about it too much. i know that's easier said than done but if you are really worried just track the movements and you'll feel better:-)

The same thing happened to me during my delivery. I was aware there was a problem, but didn't know how serious it was until afterwards. My doctor could tell by feeling it while she was trying to deliver the baby and was watching the monitor. She told me I really needed to push to get my little guy out and I was successful thankfully. I wasn't sure what was wrong because she did such a great job at keeping her composure. My husband heard her tell a nurse while they had stepped away, but thankfully it turned out okay. I have heard of a few other stories like this. Be thankful that we are delivering in this day and age. With all the technology I think they have a pretty good idea of what is going on throughout our delivery. If this is still bothering you I would suggest bringing it up w/your doctor, especially if he/she delivered your boy. They probably have some reassuring words for you. Hope that helps! J.

You know with all of this technology you would think that there would be a machine to detect that but sure wish there was because we lost our first son due to that (stillborn). I hope that doesnt freak you out but if you are concerned talk to your doctor and most likely she/he would keep a closer eye on you; thats what my doctor did.

Both my sons and my niece were born with their cord around their neck and both me and my sister had c-sections to deliver them. My first son his heart rate was dropping so they took fast, emergency c-section. then my second son was born scheduled c-section and they told me his cord was around his neck too. My sister never dialated after like almost 2 days of active labor so they did a c-section and found that my niece was bungee jumping her cord was like a beauty queen sash so everytime she tried to come down it sprung her back up! :-) all of our kids are fine now, so good luck and try not to worry!

While I was in labor the nurse told me to get on my back quick, then get on my left side quick, and then get on my right side quick. I didn't know what she was doing until I was home with my healthy baby. His heartrate was dipping with contractions and they were trying to relieve any pressure on the cord. He was born naturally and had his cord around his neck. He was fine though...no issues. I know that if there is a problem of it being tight or the babys head cutting off the blood flow in the cord that they will do a C-section.

The cord can wrap all over the baby in your uterus and it's typically not a problem because of the fuild in there. Everythign is nice and slippery, etc. During your labor, they put a monitor on the baby and they can tell if there's a problem by watching the baby's heart rate and blood pressure. If it seems to be dropping, etc., they'll take the baby via C-section and everything will be fine. Your recovery will be a little more involved because of the C-section (I've had two), but everything else should be just fine.
One of my sister's babies had the ubilical cord wrapped around her ankle, and that caused the monitor to read dips in heart rate that worried the docs for a while.

As far as still birth, there's often no good explanation for it.
As far as being worried about the baby dying from a cord around his neck at delivery, that's a pretty slim chance. That's the reason they have all the monitoring when you're in labor. If a problem is detected with the baby during labor they can knock you out and do an emergency C-section pretty quickly. Seems like I've heard of docs bragging about "skin to baby" time of about 6 minutes. Even my planned C-sections only took only about 18-20 minutes. That's nothing compared to hours and hours of labor ;-)

It is rare for siblings to both have the cord around the neck, and in fact a lot of babies' cords do get wrapped around; the difference in survival and "stillbirth" is due to how tightly the cord wraps. Since you have the history of one baby having the cord around his neck, though, go ahead and check with your doctor about it. If you are using the same OB, I would think they would monitor that more closely as your pregnancy advances. If you have changed OB's, then you definitely need to make the new one aware. Usually, cords wrap around the neck because the baby can get so active and keep turning over and around in your uterus (my boys were kickers, but didn't turn all that much). You do have the right to ask for more sonograms to make sure the baby is ok, especially if you're feeling something isn't quite "right". If you notice that the baby isn't moving as much as it did previously, I would call the dr. IMMEDIATELY. Keep in mind, that the baby does need periods of sleep, but if you go a whole day (24 hours) without feeling any movement, call your dr and go to the ER. They will do a sonogram and put the fetal monitors on your belly to make sure everything is ok. The cord wrapping around the neck can happen during the pregnancy, causing a "late term" miscarriage.

I'm not telling you any of this to scare you. I just want to give you some information to help you stay calm during your pregnancy. I know we can tell "horror" stories about our pregnancies and childbirth, but there is no reason to "panic" in your case right now. Enjoy your little one, and your pregnancy!! The stress of worrying will only make your pregnancy more difficult.

Praying for your family :)
~J.~

My Dr. said that it's fairly common. My daughter was born vaginally & had the cord wrapped around her neck twice. Early into my labor they knew that something was up b/c if I didn't lay on my right side, the heart rate would drop. They kept me pretty much in one position and had neonatal on call. As soon as I starting pushing, neonatal was there and as soon as I delivered I got a flash of her in my face and then she was whisked away to another part of the room. My husband stayed with her the whole time. He said that they did have to resusitate her a little, but it was really quick. I remember the neonatal dr ( at the time I didn't know who she was) saying hi to me & telling me that my daughter was o.k., but I didn't even realize what she was talking about. I thought she was just kinda saying congrats and everything went well. I didn't even know that anything was "wrong" until many hours later when my husband told me. I actually think it was better that way.

I know it's hard to not worry, but as long as you keep track of your movements and notify your Dr. of any changes, I think everything will be fine.

Hello, i dont mean to scare you but, please whatever you do keep monitoring ur babys heartbeat, movement such as kicks and how your belly looks. Also ask if you can have a few sonograms later of ur pregnancy. My bestfriend had a normal pregnancy. She was at her last appointment and the babys heartbeat was a little fast, but they said it was normal and everything looked fine. Plus they were going to induce in the morning. That night she said she was having hard abnormal pains, where she couldnt even walk and her belly looked deformed. She hadnt felt her baby move in a good amount of time so she tried and tried to make him move. so they rushed up to the emergency room. On the way the baby gave a huge kick so she thought every thing was fine and the pain stopped and so they turned around and went home since it was only like 4 hrs she would be induced. the next morning they couldnt find a heartbeat and he had died that night. So she had his still born and it turned out the cord was wrapped around his neck, stomach, and leg. It suffocated him and they didnt know know how or why. I dont know how they didnt know, i guess bc the last sonogram she had was when she found out he was a boy and didnt have any more bc there was no complications. so please ask if you can have a few more sonograms to make sure everything is okay. good luck and God bless.