The influence of umbilical cord structure on the course of pregnancy and parturition (author's transl)

Abstract

A series of 549 not selected placentas and umbilical cords were examined to show the influence of the different development of the umbilical cord structure on the umbilical cord perfusion and the course of parturition. For this purpose the quantity of Wharton's jelly, the spiraling of the umbilical vessels as well as the length of the cord are defined. At the same time anatomical pecularities and complications like umbilical cord torsions and true knots are considered. To judge the decisive condition of the newborn and with that the course of parturition, the pH-value of umbilical artery blood is determined. The analysis results that umbilical cords with much Wharton's jelly and with spiraling vessels are converted into an association with extremely better value than those with little jelly and less spiraling vessels. Short and rich jellied umbilical cords show a significantly lower incidence of loops around the fetal body. A similar trend can be demonstrated for umbilical cords with strong spiraling arteries. Rare phenomena like velamentous insertion, haematomas, edemas and true knots of the cords etc. proved to have no influence on the course of parturition in our relatively small examination series.