I am first time pregnant (39 weeks) and umbilical cord is twice around babys neck. Is natural birth advisable?
Saturday, March 27th, 2010 at
2:36 am
My doctor has told me that we need to avoid going into labour if the cord is still around the babys neck because it would be risky for the baby girl if the cord got tightened when the contractions take place. I have also the complication of having RH negative blood factor. I am due in 1 to 1.5 weeks max. Can I still expect for natural birth to be possible? What is your perspective?
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Natural birth would be impossible if the cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck. It would be too risky and could result in a fatality. Listen to your OB/GYN. He seems to know what he is talking about.
Good Luck
My perspective is listen to your doctor. Your doctor knows best – much better than, say, anyone here would.
I would listen to your doctor. It is better to have a planned c-section before you go into labor than to have an emergency c-section.
You will probably have to have a c-section.
definately listen to the doc. Seems like the baby could suffocate
no dear i understand the desire but it doesn’t sound as if natural childbirth is going to be safe for your little one. Please do not fight your doctor on this They know what is best and what is at stake. To listen to them and follow advice is the best chance your precious little one has to make it here safe and sound. Good luck to you dear and God bless you both.
If you have a natural birth, you risk strangling your baby. Go cesarean, your baby will have a less risky start in the world and your husband will thank you too!
c section… i don’t think that the doctor knows what’s going on.
If you already know that the cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck, then I would go for the c-section. Like the doctor said, with every contraction, the cord can get squeezed tighter around the baby’s neck and cause numerous other problems besides the obvious possibility. There is no way of knowing how long you would be in labor for. I believe that they can give you something to counteract the rh neg. factor when it does come time to deliver the baby (don’t know how it works for c-sections though). Don’t be disappointed about not having a natural birth; hearing that first cry will make everything worthwhile.
If you doctor is okay with you attempting a natural birth, and this is what you really want, I would do so. Medical technology is so advanced that they will be able to tell if the baby is in distress, and would be set up for a c-section, and able to get the infant out within 60 seconds. That’s what doctors are trained to do. If you doctor reccomends a scheduled c-section, follow his advice, that’s what they went to school for.
I would say you will be getting a C-section. I think I would perfer this in your case, just to be sure that nothing goes wrong. I would talk to your Doctor if you do decide on a section. They may need to plan ahead since you have rare blood, in case you would need a transfussion for some reason.
NO. YOU SHOULD MOST DEFINITELY GET A C SECTION. BECAUSE NATURAL BIRTH TAKES A MINUTE, YOU DON’T WANT TO RISK YOUR BABY’S LIFE. BY HAVING A C SECTION, THE DOCTOR CAN GET THE BABY OUT QUICKER AND ITS OXYGEN WON’T BE CUT OFF THAT LONG. GOOD LUCK.
Id go ahead with the c section. You dont want to do anything that could put your baby’s life in danger. Play it safe when it comes to your kids.
Listen to your doctor. My daughter, who is now 4, had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck in the womb. My stupid doctor said there was nothing wrong with this. While I was in labor, he left to go to lunch. Not five minutes after he left the room, Delaney was born. My body decided it didn’t want to hold her anymore. I wasn’t pushing. If my mom and the nurse hadn’t been standing right at the foot of the bed when Delaney came out, she would have died. As the nurse saw her head, she managed to get two fingers in between Laney’s neck and the cord. She snapped the umbilical cord. Otherwise, it would have broken her neck. Please listen to your doctor. While surgery-a c section-or a longer pregnancy are not exactly an enjoyable experience, it is worth it to have a happy and healthy little baby. I wish you the best of luck. Congratulations on your first baby. I hope you are wonderfully happy:)
My best friends baby had the cord wrapped around the neck also. Her doctor told her that she had to have a C-section.
The baby was in ICU for 5 days.If she had the baby naturally the doctor said that it was a 95% chance that the baby would not have survived. The baby is now 2 and very healthy and very smart. As for as a scar you can not tell there is one and she wears a string bikini.
Listen to the doctor…in some cases when the baby is delivered the cord can be slipped off the neck before the baby is fully delivered…I am sure your doctor has also given you the Rhogam shot around your 28th week which takes care of any problems and you will get another after the baby is born…listen to your doctor and ask all those questions you are asking right now to get you ready for wonderful event.
if, thats IF your baby get untangled in the cord then u can expect a normal vaginal birth. but you will find that if the cord is still tangled then as soon as u start having contraction ur baby will go into stress the heart rate will go down dramatically and they will need to do an emergancy c-section. the docs because they know that the baby is in the postion now will keep a close on on ur baby and if it hasn’t changed in a few days they will deffiently do a c-section this is so much more safer for the baby.
With all the whirling and twirling that babies do inside the womb it is really no wonder that those cords gets wrapped up. Plus, that is actually the babies first toy. They play with them inside there as their early discovering instincts would have it. It is okay for the cord to get wrapped around the baby’s neck. It is completely possible for the cord to come unwrapped. It’s just something that your doctor will have to keep a check on when you go into labor.
It’s a scary thing because of all the hype. People automatically go into panic mode when they hear that because they think the baby can’t breathe and all that. If it is still wrapped when you go into labor then your doctor will have to do a c-section. But there is no guarantee that it will still be wrapped around your little one’s neck.
I would try my best not to worry about it any more than what is neccessary. It is completely possible to have a natural birth. Just try to relax and rest as best as you can right now, I’m sure you need it.
Good luck on a easy, natural birth, and a beautiful new baby girl!!!
I can’t believe the ignorance and fear I read in all these answers (except for Open and Honest)! Really, I’m shocked. The cord is wrapped around the neck of babies between 1/3 and 1/4th of ALL BIRTHS! Its considered normal! You all have doctors who like to do C-Sections, and who feel the need to justify doing those C-Section to you. It is unbelievably rare for cord accident to be a cause of fetal or neonatal death. Frankly, your babies stand much greater chances of having problems from C-Sections, such as respiratory distress, infection, suck and feeding problems, getting cut during surgery, etc., than risks from the cord being around the neck. If your baby spent 5 days in the NICU chances are much more likely that the cause was something else, like complications related to the C-Section, but it sure makes the doctor look like a hero (and reduces lawsuits) to let you believe he/she saved your baby from some almost-occuring disaster. The veins and artery in the cord are VERY well protected by what is called Wharton’s Jelly. Labor contractions don’t normally cause cord compression unless the cord comes out before the baby’s head and gets trapped during pushing between the head and the vaginal wall. This is VERY rare, and if the cord is wrapped around the neck you really don’t have to worry too much about that happening. Fetal distress during labor is much more likely to be due to other factors such as drugs to start or augment labor which cause abnormally strong contractions which reduce the oxygen supply via the placenta to the baby, drugs for pain, which cause central nervous system depression in the baby, putting moms on their backs in labor, which causes a drop in blood pressure, reducing the oxygen supply to the baby (via the placenta), etc. I have seen true knots in cords, I once delivered a baby who’s cord was around his waist, over his shoulder and back around his chest 2 times and neck three times. He was fine. My own son had the cord around his waist twice and neck twice. He was fine and is now in college. And just another FYI, there is not a single obstetrician who could have made though medical school and his/her obstetrical residency without learning exactly how to deal with a cord around the neck at delivery. It’s not complicated. Most cords, even if wrapped two or three times around the neck, are loose enough to slip over the baby’s head, and if not, the baby can either be "summersaulted" out, or the cord cut and unwrapped. Now, having said all that, no, there is no guarantee there won’t be a problem. However there is NO GUARANTEE that a C-Section would solve the problem (baby still has cord around neck when being removed), and there is NO GUARANTEE that having a C-Section would prevent any and all problems, and it does introduce a whole new set of risk factors.
OB’s love to do C-Sections and will justify them with anything they can come up with. They are faster, they can schedule them during office hours, and they are (still) less likely to get sued, and loose a lawsuit, if they do C-Sections. These things are called "Daylight Obstetrics" and "Defensive Obstetrics".
There are so many risks to both mother and baby with C-Sections! Please educate yourselves. Don’t assume your doctors have yours or your babies best interests at heart.
You can look up factual information here:
http://www.ican-online.org/
Or here:
http://www.childbirthconnection.org/home.asp?Visitor=Woman
or here;
http://www.motherfriendly.org/
If your doctor says no, then I would listen to him. The RH facto has nothing to do with having natural childbirth. The RH factor is taken care of when the baby is born and its blood is tested. I would definately go with my Doctor, and trust what he has to tell me
I WOULD NOT TAKE THE CHANCE I WOULD HAVE A C-SECTION DUE TO ALL THE THINGS THAT COULD GO WRONG IN A SITUATION LIKE THAT
I agree 100% with claudineintexas! Amen!!!