Risk factors and infant outcomes associated with umbilical cord prolapse

Objectives: Our goal was to identify risk factors associated with umbilical cord prolapse and to review the perinatal outcome of cases of cord prolapse. Methods: During the study years 77 cases were identified retrospectively. Associations between cord prolapse and potential risk factors were evaluated by means of the odds ratio. Results: Of the 77 fetuses with umbilical cord prolapse 9.1% had a fetal weight of <2500 g as compared with 9.4% for fetuses in control group (P>0.05). The umbilical cord prolapse occurred in association with vertex presentation 66 times (85.7%), breech presentation nine times (11.7%) and transverse presentation two times (2.6%). The occurrence of breech presentation among the control cases was 2.6%, and that of transverse lie was 1.7% (P<0.01). Case mothers were 1.6 times more likely to be multiparas compared with the control group (P<0.01). The perinatal mortality rate was 39/1000. Conclusions: Our study showed that abnormal fetal presentation and multiparity are associated with an increased risk of umbilical cord prolapse. The association of risk of cord prolapse with low birth weight was statistically insignificant (P>0.05). We suggest that the cesarean delivery decreased the risk of perinatal mortality among cases of cord prolapse. (C) 2002 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.