Velamentous Cord Insertion & 2 Vessel Umbilical Cord

[sfaulk1]

At our 20 week anatomy scan, we found out that I have velamentous cord insertion and a 2 vessel umbilical cord. Has anyone else dealt with this? How did everything turn out?

 

[beagleowner]

At our 20 week anatomy scan, we found out that I have velamentous cord insertion and a 2 vessel umbilical cord. Has anyone else dealt with this? How did everything turn out?

I don't know anything about 2 vessel cords, but I was diagnosed with Velamentous Cord Insertion. My doctors told me not to freak out; I FREAKED OUT. It totally ruined my pregnancy in many ways because I did not heed their advice to relax about it. Do you know how high your placenta is?

If, as is the case for most people, your placenta is high and the cord insertion site is high, there is very little cause for concern. Your pregnancy will most likely be treated as a variation of normal. Most doctors familiar with this condition will assure you that you can still have a normal, vaginal delivery.
* You will want to do monthly growth ultrasounds to ascertain that the baby is receiving good flow through the cord and is growing sufficiently. This was not a concern for me. My baby was born 9.5 lbs.
* You should do kick counts starting around 28 weeks; some doctors say around 26 weeks. I never failed a kick count, but the reassurance was priceless.
* If your pregnancy proceeds past dates, you will want to monitor your fluid level very carefully. I was a week overdue and my fluid level got on the very lowest level of safe, and so they induced me.
* Your labor will be monitored carefully to ensure that the baby is not stressed by the contractions.

If, on the other hand, your placenta and/or the cord insertion is not high, but is near the cervical os (vasa previa): Congratulations on your prenatal diagnosis. It likely saved your baby's life. You will probably have a c-section somewhere around 35 weeks, and everything will be fine. A vaginal birth is absolutely not an option for someone with vasa previa.

Previously, this condition was nearly never diagnosed prenatally. It was simply noted at birth, or never noticed at all. It is now being diagnosed prenatally more and more because many modern ultrasound machines have color doppler which is able to identify it easily. Most cases are harmless! I was freaked out so I insisted on a referral to a high-risk maternal-fetal medicine specialist/perinatologist. He said he saw a case of velamentous cord insertion about once a week, and he had to follow up on it about once a year because of complications. He was completely unconcerned and said the growth ultrasounds were likely the only intervention they would recommend.

He also showed me an UpToDate article (UpToDate is like wikipedia, except unlike wikipedia which can be written by any schmoe, articles in UpToDate are written by carefully selected researchers who are experts in that specific condition) which noted that Velamentous Cord Insertion is probably only associated with certain negative outcomes because when something goes wrong at a birth, they go searching for a reason and velamentous cord insertion is identified--but that it's probably present in many more perfectly healthy births, it's just not noted in those cases.

In other words, velamentous cord insertion is no big deal--unless it's not diagnosed prenatally. Yours is, so they will be able to address any risky issues and your baby will be fine (at least, it will be fine if velamentous cord insertion is your only complication).

I really regret not taking my doctors' advice and not worrying about the cord issue. My daughter is perfectly healthy and wonderful, and the cord thing put a damper on what should've been an amazingly blissful time.

Good luck!

 

[sfaulk1]

Thank you sooo much! I have literally google-scared myself haha. I don't know where my placenta is, but I have another ultrasound tomorrow. I'll make sure to ask my dr and find out

 

[beagleowner]

Thank you sooo much! I have literally google-scared myself haha. I don't know where my placenta is, but I have another ultrasound tomorrow. I'll make sure to ask my dr and find out

Yes, do that--and don't be scared, at least about the velamentous cord. It really is no big deal if your placenta insertion is high, and if it is low, they will address that and it will not be a problem.

I really, really wish I had not let this ruin my pregnancy. If I could go back in time I would say "listen to your doctors--they know what they are talking about."