Sick with worry about cord prolapse - hand held needed

[ByGreenBiscuit]

I’m 36 weeks pregnant, with Mild excess fluid and baby with an unstable lie. I know the chances are low of a cord prolapse, but it was mentioned today by the midwife and I just feel like a ticking time bomb. I knew this was a possibility as baby has always been transverse or oblique. Now she is heads down but not engaged, and the fluid makes it more unlikely she’ll be able to get into position.

I have a consultant appointment on Tuesday so I’m trying to keep myself sane for that but I’ve been frantically googling and getting myself into a real tizz; ive not really slept properly since going on maternity leave 10 days ago and feel that I’m wasting the time and just going to be an emotional wreck when she does actually arrive.

I know there’s a chance I’ll be hospitalised from Tuesday which again feels like such a shame as I’d love to be nesting and happily preparing. I also struggle emotionally with that environment. But also I think I might feel safer in Hospital. I also think I’m going to push for a 38 week c section as opposed to standard 39 as I just don’t feel I can stand this anxiety any longer.

can someone please offer any reassurance / experiences? Especially from midwives or people who have gone through this.

Well it's great news she's head down now, and second babies especially often don't engage and bob in and out repeatedly - mine wasn't engaged when I went into labour. In your position I'd have small hospital bag and my notes that I'd take wherever I went, and my main hospital bag easy to find at home. I'd stay local and make sure I had phone signal. Best of luck x

I ended up being admitted just shy of 39 weeks as they realised she was transverse and they were worried about a cord prolapse. It really came as quite a shock so didn't have time to prepare, I ended up being squeezed in for a section the next day.

She had been in various positions and wouldn't stop shifting around. I know what you mean about the anxiety but really, hospital is the best place to be if she stays in that position x

As someone who did have a cord prolapse, while I certainly don't recommend it, if there is a risk, it's best that you're in hospital. I'd be pushing the be admitted if they think it's a possibility.

Sorry should have said, she is heads down but just not engaged. Still classified as unstable lie tho I think due to the excess fluid and her probably struggling to engage because of that. I guess if waters broke there might be quite a lot more force which could bring cord with it?

I’ve got a consultant appointment on Tuesday when I will be 37 weeks exactly. I am guessing they might admit me then. Do you think I should be pushing for earlier?

Mine is first baby… part of me wants to do lots of exercise and walking to try and get her to engage; but also I’m worried about triggering early labour which is apparently w risk with excess fluid!

She'll plop into position when she's ready (if there's not loads and loads of fluid; from what you have written it sounds like there's just a bit extra). Sounds like she's making her way there as she's gone from all over the shop to head down at about the time you'd expect her to.

I had excess fluid and baby didn’t engage until I went into labour. It was fine, but maybe different situation as no one ever spoke to me about cord prolapse.

Having watched lots of birthing programmes, cord prolapse and shoulder dystocia were the two things that absolutely terrified me. If it was even remotely on the cards for me, I would have pushed to be in hospital as soon as physically possible. It isn't ideal by any stretch of the imagination but safety for yourself and baby is absolute top priority. Stay safe OP and hope your delivery is drama free ❤️

I turned up in labour at the MLU and baby number 2 was lying oblique. Never picked up at midwife appointments and the midwife at the MLU had seen me the week earlier.

Got blue lighted to the main hospital. Quick scan, they broke my waters (there was lots) and baby 2 dropped head down and arrived within the hour.

Whilst waters were broken, there was a surgeon in the corner of the room ready to whisk me off for a crash section, but he promptly left when she dropped into head first.

We were home six hours later.

Wow. Did you also have excess fluid? It seems I have moderate poly whatever it is which I think increases the risks.

@ByGreenBiscuit can sympothise here with you as this was me just 2/3 years ago.. was absoloutley scared to death of cord prolapse when i had it explained to me! so i agreed to go in for an induction at 37+1 weeks! also their was concerns of him being a big baby too! i had GD which caused the Polyhydraminos.. well it was obvious looking back my body or baby wasn't ready to be born/put into artificial labour if you would like to call it that, he wasn't born until 37+5 weighing 7pounds&8.5ounces... didn't get no sleep in them 4 days hardly due to trying different methods of induction to try kick start my body into labour, ended up on hormone drip in end & once that started he was born within 3 hours 😊 think from my own experience it is safer for you to be already in hospital if something were to happen (this is actually what a consultant said to me at the time) as they can deal with it straightaway, but if you choose not too, and you go into labour at home and your waters break, you need to get down on all fours with your bum in the air and wait for an ambulance to prevent the cord coming first.. if you have anymore questions feel free to PM me x

I gave birth to our first perfect baby in January of this year and it sounds like your situation was very similar to mine. My consultant had strongly advised a c-section delivery during our first consultation due to my complex disabilities and medical conditions so that was already planned for 39 weeks so discovering our baby was transverse did not upset my birth plan. I was having regular growth scans every 3 weeks or so which showed that our baby was consistently in a transverse position. At the consultation following our 36 week scan the doctor advised me that they were recommending we bring my c-section forward a week, mostly due to concerns about managing an emergency section if I went into labour early but also because of the transverse lie and risk of cord prolapse. The consultant also suggested they take me into hospital a week before the c-section just in case my waters were to break early as well as advising me of what to do should my waters break in the intervening week. I was relieved to take them up on the offer of spending the preceeding week before delivery in hospital. I had a private room and spent a very relaxing and uneventful week just resting, reading and listening to music, which I appreciated! As it happened, our daughter seemed quite happy where she was so my fears of going into labour early did not materialise. She also remained determinedly transverse. I would highly recommend going into hospital as a precaution if you would be happy with that, I found it far more reassuring being on the spot. Also, by all means, speak to your consultant about bringing your section forward a week and see if they would advise this. Wishing you all the best for a happy and healthy birth.

Thank you so much, this is reassuring. I am praying for a private room as hearing lots of women in labour will be incredibly difficult for me I think! I listened to one once as I was in for something else and I ended up having a panic attack.

Ive decided I’m not going to leave the house other than the garden until the consultant appointment on Tuesday. I just feel so heavy when I stand up, and the idea of waters breaking in a public place terrify me. so I’m on a self imposed lock down for now, and hopefully I will get admitted on Tuesday as I really don’t feel safe at all right now.

I guess it’s good she’s heads down as less chance of the prolapse than transverse I’m guessing (?): But it’s still a big worry

So glad things worked out for you and it was in the end a fairly straightforward c section. Love to you and your little one x

My last baby was a transverse lie so I got taken into hospital as I lived rurally and if I went into labour I wouldn't have gotten to the hospital in time. I wasn't keen but knew I would have to but it actually ended up being like a little mini-break being looked after and just chilling reading in the hospital and I loved it!
In the end I had her turned manually and despite all the horror stories I read online it was absolutely fine, once she engaged I was then induced and it all went relatively smoothly (she got stuck a bit on the way out but it was okay in the end).

Yes, but wasn't picked up. It was remarked how much fluid there was when they broke my waters

I had severe polyhydramnios (to the extent I was scanned twice a week) and was warned about the risk of cord prolapse. My baby was floating around with all the fluid and never engaged. I had an elcs at 38w because of this.

My 1st baby was a standing breech. I went into Labour at 37 wks and the cord was around his neck twice, he was in distress, so they gave me a c-section.
My 2nd baby was transverse lie, all the way through. Low 'liquor'.
Offered manual turning but hospital had had a recent problem so I declined.
After baby #1, I was keen to have a home birth. My Consultant mentioned cord prolapse, I trusted his judgment & was delivered by planned Csection at 37+4

I'd keep local and calm until your appointment and then ask if early admission is necessary. All will be well x

Theres a much much higher risk of cord prolapse with a transverse, or even a breech baby, compared to head down. Your only risk factor from the sound of it is the extra fluid, so hopefully you'll have a very uneventful few days and then can speak to your consultant.

It usually takes a while of having mild contractions for the cervix to soften, efface and start opening. For most women, especially with a first baby, that’s going to take hours (or sometimes days!) not minutes. So if they have you in hospital and you’re being monitored, they should pick up that it’s time to do the C-Section well before the cord could prolapse.
It’s kind of like you don’t really start at 0cm and get to 10cm during labour. There’s a whole lot of change that happens before you get to 0cm but ready for the cervix to start opening. At your next appointment you could ask how they’ll know when it’s time to do the C-Section if you start having contractions earlier than the planned C-Section date.

I had a difficult pregnancy following multiple miscarriages. It was stressful and I had pregnancy induced hypertension so was hospitalised from 32 wks for bed rest until I had a csection at 36wks.

It wasn’t the best of experiences and I did feel like a living incubator, but the plus side was that the daily monitoring including 6 hourly checks where the midwife listen to the heart beat, drastically reduced the anxiety re the babies health.

Having a midwife at hand 24/7 meant that I worried less about all the what ifs. The ward was full of high risk pregnant women and the speed with which they dealt with problems was exemplary. Because you are already high risk they don’t mess around. The first day that I didn’t “feel fine” the monitoring stepped up and I was given 30mins notice that I was going to theatre to be delivered.

There are lots of “stories” online about things going wrong, but they are generally when a woman has a perfectly normal healthy pregnancy. It’s very different when you are high risk.

I had a long list of complications, transverse presentation, big baby, early pre eclampsia and the straw that broke the camels back was pregnancy induced cholestasis ( liver failure).
One consultant said that I would have made a perfect finals patient for medical students.

Thanks to the care I received my baby is now 20.

Don’t resist inpatient care, just relax and let the midwives monitor you. It is very different to the post natal care.

Try and be reassured that they know about this. Please take their advice on time to deliver Avoid Cord prolapse at all costs
I did have a cord prolapse and he was delivered 8 minutes later under GA.
He had to be resuscitated at Birth as he was born not breathing.
He was in NICU for 14 days.
At 38 weeks they are ready cooked anyway.

My second baby was an unstable lie, only detected at 40 weeks though I knew he was sometimes in a strange position (i.e. transverse) for weeks beforehand. I've written about my experience on this recent thread, along with quite a few others with transverse/unstable lie babies https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/pregnancy/5317082-transverse-head-to-right-35-weeks?reply=144306068

I had severe polyhydramnios, lots of additional monitoring and interventions from half way through, and increased risk of cord prolapse. They wanted me in hospital from 36 weeks - no precautionary C section as they felt well able to manage things as long as I was there when I started labour. They didn’t think I would go past 36 weeks naturally due to severity of polyhydramnios. For various personal reasons I didn’t want to go with this plan, so I just trundled on as I would have otherwise. Ended up being a medical marvel who got close to 40 weeks (no one had ever seen that with severity of polyhydramnios I had but turns out I have a superhuman stretchy uterus). Had a natural birth that went to plan as much as any of mine had, given all of mine had waters break and then absolutely nadda from that point so drip for every one of my kids as otherwise absolutely nothing would have happened. Appreciate things could have gone differently, but I was comfortable with it all.