A nuchal cord is when the umbilical cord becomes wrapped around the fetuss neck. Symptoms present in the baby shortly after birth from a prior nuchal cord may include duskiness of face, facial petechia, and bleeding in the whites of the eye. Complications can include meconium, respiratory distress, anemia, and stillbirth. Multiple wraps are associated with greater risk.The diagnosis may be suspected if there is a decrease in the babys heart rate during delivery. Nuchal cords are typically checked for by running the finger over the babys neck once the head has delivered. Ultrasound may pick up the condition before labor.If detected during delivery, management includes trying to unwrap the cord or if this is not possible clamping and cutting the cord. Delivery can typically take place as normal and outcomes are generally good. Rarely long term brain damage or cerebral palsy may occur. Nuchal cords occur in about a quarter of deliveries. The condition has been described at least as early as 300 BC by Hippocrates. Signs and symptoms
Symptoms of a prior nuchal cord shortly after birth in the baby may include duskiness of face, facial petechia, and bleeding in the whites of the eye. Complications can include meconium, respiratory disease, anemia, and still birth. Diagnosis
In 1962, J. Selwyn Crawford MD from the British Research Council defined a nuchal cord as one that is wrapped 360 degrees around the fetal neck. Crawford commented "It is all the more remarkable, therefore, that little work has been done. to analyze its effects during labor and delivery".
Prognosis
Retrospective data of over 182,000 births, with the statistical power to determine even mild associations, suggest that a single or multiple nuchal cords at the time of delivery is not associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, is associated with higher birthweights and fewer caesarean sections in births. Although some studies have found that a tight nuchal cord is associated with short term morbidity, it is unclear whether such outcomes are actually a result of the presence of the nuchal cord itself, or as a result of clamping and cutting the cord

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