Baby hiccups - can these be a sign of a problem with the umbilical cord?

[completelyconfused]

Am 38 wks and my baby has hiccups once or twice a day, usually at night. It's very cute, but then I read that frequent hiccups can be a symptom of a knotted cord or cord wrapped round the neck. Suddenly they don't seem so cute. Anyone else heard about this or am I being paranoid?

Hiccoughs are fairly normal. All babies have them.

no, that's absolute rubbish.

my two girls hiccupped for scotland in the womb.

neither of them have a knotted cord or cord round their necks.

it's the baby practising breathing.

i hope not! im 39+7 and my baby gets hiccups all the time!
i shouldn't think they are as i went to the hospital the other day, and all was fine with baby. i'm sure if the cord was knotted or around the neck, the baby wouldn't/couldn't get hiccups?

no never heard that. All my babies had the hiccups at least once a day while I was pregnant. DD2 had the cord around her neck twice, ds had it once around his neck. But this didn't cause a problem in either birth, the midwife simply slipped if off, and both babies were born fine.

No, DD had hiccups daily, often more than once a day. She still had hiccups often after she was born, but thinking about it seems to have grown out of them (She is 6yo now)

Don't worry about it, is completely normal

my baby used to keep me up at night hiccuping! And she then proceeded to hiccup lots when out the womb as well! Never heard of this associated with problems with cord ... so enjoy those little hiccups (aaaah thinking about it i now realise how much i miss that!)

Actually it's true, but incredibly rare.

Perfectly normal for baby to get hiccups, can be a worry if it goes on for a really long time. Again really rare.

I will return with facts.

Stop worrying btw.

From healthcare-

'Frequent hiccups in the baby
Very frequent hiccups in your baby at 36-40 weeks can be a sign of cord entanglement. Many unborn babies do have hiccups but if your baby is having 2-4 episodes every 24 hours lasting for 10 minutes this may indicate a problem. Contact your doctor or midwife.'

Please note the very frequent bit, several times a day is nothing to worry about.

I only know about this as I am a total hyperchondriac and know practically everything that can go wrong in pg.

Your baby is fine though.

LOL at WWWW "stop worrying, btw"

She is going to be a mummy in 2 weeks, you know that we never stop worrying

But stop worrying about this one

mine had hiccups all the time. they are fine now. Well, I say fine, they are really grubby, they fight and bicker and they steal food from the treat cupboard, but other than that, they are fine!

I meant stop worrying about the cord, i spent both of my pg's worrying about stupid things that never happened and spoilt them really tbh.

Worry is of couse, a mothers job, oh and guilt too.

My 1st hiccupped all the time. I was concerned my 2nd didn't!

OK I THINK I'm reassured!! Will ask at my next midwife appt to be on safe side but good to hear there are lots of hiccuping babies out there!

Hi I am 37 weeks pregnant and my baby has hiccups all the time, for the last 6 weeks however my midwife and GP reassured me that are normal and is nothing to worry about. Be positive about it☺, as long as your baby is moving, is a good and start to be worry if doesn't move! Good luck !!

My eldest hiccuped constantly from about 22 weeks until about 32 weeks (born at 31 weeks!) drove me mad because she'd knock my diaghram with each one and make me hiccup. As far as I know she didn't have a problem with her cord, but I wasn't at the birth.

Mine hiccuped all the time, and after she was born it was the same. It's a funny feeling to know a baby so intimately while it's inside, then it comes out and you have to get to know it all over again. But in my case, the hiccups provided continuity. . .

Dd hiccuped like crazy in utero. At least twice a day. I used to wonder whether I should make a loud noise or drink a glass of water backwards on her behalf!

She was fine, no cord issues whatsoever.

Ds1 and ds2 rarely had hiccups. Weird.

Further to what where said - remember that hiccups do not count as fetal movements when 'counting the kicks'!

my dd hiccuped in the womb loads, she also continued when she arrived. she still has loads now and she is 8!

I know I'm resurrecting a very old thread that had already arisen, but I just wanted to say (in case anyone is ever googling the same symptoms) that DD3 did hiccough a lot from 36 weeks onwards until she was born at 42 weeks, she did have practise breathing that was visible from the outside from around the same gestation, she was "stuck" in the same broad position ROA from that time although her arms and legs were still moving a lot and she was shifting her body (as though stirring in her sleep).

It turned out after PROM, the failed induction, the infection in both her and me and the crash CS, that she had been tangled up in her cord- mercifully not around her neck, but once around her body and 5 times around her upper thighs. After a week in hospital and some strong antibiotics, we left the hospital alive. I think that a doppler blood flow scan on her cord might have shown the entanglement and I kind of kick myself that I didn't press for it the day after the waters went- I could have progressed straight to emergency CS rather than crash. The extra three days in utero could have been avoided and she wouldn't have had an infection, the stay in NICU or the gentomycin.

Still, we were extraordinarily lucky. The obstetrician made the right call at the right moment (having refused me a Doppler earlier in the week, for I forgive her). I feel glad every day even when she's being a little bugger.

Hi what infection did you have