All about umbilical cords

I posted this short piece about nuchal cords on Facebook recently, and it was my most popular post ever! It generated a lot of interesting discussion. I followed it up with another post with more information, which I've put at the bottom.

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"And the cord was around his neck..."

"It's a good thing I was in hospital/had a caesarean because THE CORD WAS AROUND HIS NECK"

Have you ever heard stories like that?

Let me put my dark glasses on, and steeple my fingers and ask...

What if I told you....

That the cord being around your baby's neck was EXPECTED?

Think of all the boogying around in there they do. Wouldn't it be a bit weird if it wasn't looped around them?

What if I told you...

It's pretty common. It happens in around 1/3 of births, and it's not usually a cause for concern.

What if I told you...

It's not strangling your baby. He's not breathing with his lungs yet, remember. And it's coated in Whartons jelly to protect it even if it's knotted.

What if I told you it's a GOOD thing!

Around the neck is infinitely better than around the head! It would get very squashed there as he moved down and out.

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Follow up

Last week's mythbusting post about nuchal cords reached a lot of people and generated some really interesting discussion. One of the things that came up was, What if my baby is born not breathing?

I know that as a mother, that is probably a scary thought. Take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and keep reading. We are going to bust this myth that babies are born already breathing 👍

For most of us, before we have our own babies, we see inaccurate portrayals of birth on TV. Of course they can't use an actual newborn baby. The babies are usually portrayed as clean, pink and breathing well, even crying heartily. The less like that our own baby looks, the more alarming it can be. If they look bluish, or don't cry immediately (both quite common) it can feel worrying.

First, keep in mind that as long as the cord is intact, your baby should still be receiving oxygen that way.

Second, we don't want babies to switch over to lung-breathing too early. Think of it this way: "breathing" just through the cord protects them from breathing in fluid or meconium during the birth process. There is also mucus being cleared from their lungs as they are squeeeeeezed down and out - so surely not massively helpful to breathe that in either 🤔

Usually, as more of your baby is exposed to air, there are changes in his body to raise his co2 levels. This primes him to breathe once he is born. If he comes rocketing out fast, that first breath might take a smidge longer. Ditto if you have a waterbirth. This *on its own* isn't necessarily a cause for concern. With waterbirth becoming more popular (and it's massively helpful for many women, so that's a good thing!) I think we need to talk about this. Knowing what to expect makes the process so much less scary.

Some babies are having a good shout before their head is fully out! But that is fairly unusual.

Of course, sometimes babies do need some help at this time. If all is well, the midwife keeps a close eye and is looking for signs that baby is OK. The cord being intact, and baby being skin to skin with mum, will support him during these moments of transition.

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Come and find me there!

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