kinda worried....

[Ashelen]

OK so my sister-in-law is 33wks pregnant with a girl...and she went in to get a 4D ultrasound. the techs at the place who did her 4D say they are NOT doctors and won't do any sort of diagnostic scanning...but they mentioned to my SIL that her daughter had the cord wrapped around her neck. They said "it's only looped once, but you need to call your doctor." Well...she never called her doctor. AND, while it may "only be looped once" you can tell from the picture I posted that it looks pretty tight...IDK but I'm freaked out for her and I'm really concerned that they never followed up with her OB....my MIL (who has been an OB nurse for 20+ years) was freaked out and kept pushing her to go see her OB, but my SIL was like "no she's still moving normally and I have an appointment in a week anyway."

Has anyone had a scan look like this and the baby was fine? I mean...i dunno it just really worries me. I know I'm being a buttinski but the minute I saw this pic I got chills :(....someone please reassure me that my niece isn't as stressed out as she looks...

[szw2008]

Your sister may be worried, but there isn't anything they can do about it except induce labor early and I had my son at 32 weeks and it is NOT a pleasant experience. Cords can wrap and unwrap around babies necks and as long as the baby is still active and being monitored she should be fine. The baby may not be bothered by it, but she might just be playing with it... poor kids don't have any other toy when their sitting around in there for 9 months... I'd play with the darn things too (=  (;

[LosingMyMindInGA]

More babies than most people know have the cords around their neck in utero.  So long as baby is moving fine and there are no signs of fetal distress all should be ok.  It is worth her mentioning to her doc especially if he has not done an u/s recently.  But this is the reason most docs don't approve of these ultrasound centers.  These people tend to scare the sh*t out of mothers for no reason sometimes.  

I can tell you that a nuchal cord causing death is very rare.  I was born with the corda round my neck twice.  The worse thing that happened was my mother had to experience a forceps delivery.  

Though it HAS happened (unfortunately I know all too well)  it is EXTREMELY rare and when is does happen there is usually NO indication of it ahead of time.  In other words you don't see the cord around the neck on ultrasound or anything, it just happens.  Many babies have the cords wrapped numerous times or even have them knotted somehow and are perfectly fine.  But as Joy said, as hard as it is to NOT worry for her, focus on your situation right now, let her handle hers.  

[JoyRenee]

*HUGS* I know, I know. Focus on your worries right now. I'm sure your sister-in-law's baby is just fine and she's doing kick counts. I got the above information from an OBGYN and his article made perfect sense. It is very, very, very common for babies to be born with the cord around their neck with all the acrobatics they do in the womb!

[Ashelen]

Thanks JoyRenee...as you can imagine this kind of fell to the back of my mind. I'm going to trust your experience on this and let it go because I just can't focus on it right now...and I know you're probably right. Thanks for the response.

[JoyRenee]

A baby cannot suffocate due to a cord being around their neck. Many babies have theirs looped three times at birth with no issue.

The reason that they cannot suffocate from a cord being wrapped around their neck is because there is a gel-like substance inside the cord that helps keep it from being compressed. Remember that a baby doesn't get oxygen like we do, from breathing. They get oxygen via the cord. So the fact it is around the neck is a non-issue since they don't breathe yet. It could be wrapped around their body, arm, leg, etc. and be fine.

Cord accidents that result in baby's death usually do not have anything to do with the cord being wrapped around any body part. There are many cord accidents unrelated.

My Zoë had hers wrapped around her neck at birth and was perfectly fine. Do a little more research on it from some reliable sources and hopefully it will put your mind at ease.

[Michele, Katy, TX]

Oh my gosh, I would call my doc immediately.  I'd be scared to death.  I have had all vaginal deliveries, but I have always worried about something like this happening to me.  I mean I know that it probably happens pretty often with as much as they move, but I can't believe she wouldn't call her doctor.  I would.  But that's just me.....I'd have gone straight to the doctor with my pics in hand.

[smjmekg]

Well, that makes me feel a little better, knowing she's having a c-section. I mean the baby won't be squished out the vaginal canal and possibly have the cord pulled tighter that way...I'm sure she'll be ok, I think Elijah even had the cord around his neck when he came out, I don't remember but he was fine and I had him by c-section.

[Ashelen]

Yeah that's kinda where I'm at right now...I just don't know enough about whether she really SHOULD freak out or not...she could be completely appropriate in her reaction, but I just know that *I* would be freaking out. She's going to have a scheduled c-section at like 38wks anyway so she's only got 5 more max...but it just feels wrong. Nothing I can do I suppose just hope it all turns out right...I was kinda hoping someone on here has had a scan that looks like this that can stop me worrying but I guess I'll have to see when I check back tomorrow, lol. My husband is begging me for the computer.

[smjmekg]

By the way, no you're not being crazy, but I've never been in a situation or heard of one like this where someone saw the cord around the neck, I don't know what if anything they would/could do. I do find it irritating that your sister isn't worried, I know I would be. I'd like to find out though if they can/would do anything about it...I mean I seriously doubt they'd open her up just to try to move the cord...ya know what I mean?

[smjmekg]

I don't know though, I mean if you didn't know the cord was around your baby's neck and you didn't get an ultrasound showing it, you wouldn't know, you would just think the baby's moving around...I mean maybe it isn't THAT bad. I'm sure it's uncomfortable for the baby, and maybe this just means they may try to deliver her early or maybe they won't do anything at all...I don't know.

[Ashelen]

That's what I thought...I'm really irritated with her for brushing it off, and you should see the pics right around this one...they're scary. it's really stressing me out even though there's nothing I can do. I have no idea why she's not freaking out but she did say "well the baby pulls it away a few times so I know she's getting blood flow" which...doesn't really make sense.

[smjmekg]

Holy cr@p!!! Can you slap some sense into her for me? I mean, the baby's pulling the cord away from her neck, that's not enough for her to freak out? Is she waiting until the baby's not moving to freak out? I'd be flipping out and going to the ER the second I left the ultrasound appointment, if not the second the tech mentioned it.

[Ashelen]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't think it's normal...I just showed a series of pictures taken within a few moments of one another right around the same time as this pic to my husband and even HE said it doesn't look quite right...in the series she's tugging the cord and arching away from it. I don't understand how my SIL isn't freaking out?!

[lisax4156]

Id be very worried if I were her..id definately be calling the dr...she could end up with dire consequences...or worse...

Lisa

[Ashelen]

I wanted to add that several times during the ultrasound (they have a 25-minute realtime video of the u/s) my niece reaches up and tugs the cord away from her neck, but it always settles back to where it is in that picture^.