Short Umbilical Syndrome Anyone?

[LaPinska]

My first child was born in July. She had been measuring behind in growth by about 3-4 weeks, and went from 25th percentile at 25 weeks to 5th percentile by 35 weeks. She was classed as IUGR. My water broke at 37 weeks and she was very small and wrinkly at 5lb6oz (obviously malnourished) but 18" long so re-classed as AGA at birth. But her umbilical cord was only 8" long. The doctor who delivered her said in all his years he had never seen a cord so short. Later on I learned this is because the mortality rate of Short Umbilical Syndrome is about 97% with most babies never surviving gestation.

The little bit of research i've done says there is no chance of recurrence of the syndrome for future pregnancies. I am terrified this may not be the case though.

We are about to start TTC#2 and I was wondering if anyone has personal experience or knowledge of the condition they are willing to share with me. Thanks in advance!

 

[MrsMamma]

Hi, unfortunately, no one knows why short umbilical cord syndrome occurs, or how it can be prevented. The umbilical cord begins to form at 5 weeks after conception. It becomes progressively longer until 28 weeks of pregnancy, reaching an average length of 22 to 24 inches. There does seem to be some evidence of factors such as babies’ gender and amount of baby movement possibly having an impact upon the cord length.
Whilst the causes of differences in cord length are unknown, the length of the cord is thought to reflect movement of the foetus in uterus. Short cords are associated with some type constraint in the uterus, and the inability of the foetus to move properly. This may indicate foetuses with gross structural or functional limb defects that limited intrauterine movement.

Although short cords have been blamed for the inability of some foetuses to deliver vaginally, available data suggest that womanly delivery can take place with cords as short as 13 cm, which is much shorter than the normal range. Moreover if a cord is too short to deliver vaginally, foetal heart monitoring will indicate stress, in which case a CS will be performed. Whilst SUC syndrome does not normally lead to fatality of the child, or of the mother, a short umbilical cord (less than 30 cm) can affect the foetus in that foetal movements can cause cord compression, constriction and ruptures; which can be fatal.
I have never heard of anyone else having this problem, so I really can’t comment if a future baby may have shorter cord again. Have a good chat with your consultant about the consequences of your decision.

 

[mum140381]

my last baby had this she was my 6th all my others where fine im ttc 7 hope it doesnt happen again i was induced also baby was on 5th percentile weekly growth scans xx