Velamentous Insertion of Umbilical Cord

J.,
I had my healthy, 7 lb 2oz son vaginally @ 36 weeks. I'd had a positive AFP3 result and lots of sonograms that showed he was developing normally but did not detect the v.cord situation. We didn't know until after he was born and the pathology report on the placenta came back about the v.cord situation.

I labored normally (about 11 hours) with an epidural. After delivery my doctor had to put me back on the epidural and surgically deliver the placenta (D&C) b/c it did not exit on its own. I have no idea if that was related to the v.cord situation or not.

Knowing what I know now, I think we were very lucky given the fact that we didn't know the risk existed going into delivery. I think the major risk w/ v.cord is excessive bleeding by mom and child. But my story is a very good outcome so we are very thankful! Stay open to whatever they advise, and I'm sure you'll also do great!

hi again, i googled this to see if it was what i had with my daughter, they never gave me a name, we never knew i had it until she was born. they said that the cord wasnt attached to the placenta, that it kind of missed, was attached to the membrane nearby. from what i just googled, looked like this might be the same thing? i just dont know about the separation of the blood vessels? in any case, i delivered her with no problem. once i got the epi and unclenched, i pushed her down and out in about 15 min. the doc barely got his little booties on! i asked my doc afterward if there were any implications, he laughed because she was over 9 lbs, said she obviously got all her nutrition. he did say that if he was going to vegas, that i would be the one he would bring, so i guess that means she/we were lucky, so it obviously isnt something to be disregarded, but certainly do-able. she ended up in the nicu with severe jaundice, but that had nothing to do with anything other than our different blood types.
by the way, she was the one i wrote about with my nightmare of pictocin without the epi. i should have mentioned that she was like a big fat turkey! she was over 9 lbs, but only 19 inches, like a basketball! might have had something to do with it being so awful...
also, i should have mentioned that with my first baby, i got cervadil rather than pictocin, and although it took forever, it was a much better experience, more natural. the cervadil kind of jump starts your body into doing it on its own. and i imagine it would be even better with your second child. maybe an option to discuss with your doc? best of luck, D.

While I am not familiar with the risks of a vaginal delivery with VCI, I unfortunately had the personal experience of having a very serious and life threatening condition called vasa previa along with VCI. It is my understanding that you can have VCI without vasa previa, but you always have VCI with Vasa previa. I strongly encourage you to speak to your ob about vasa previa and make sure you do not have the condition. It is not routinely checked for during sonograms. As i said before, Vasa Previa is a life threatening condition when undiagnosed (up to 95% mortality rate w/vaginal birth) therefore you must deliver via c-section in order for your baby to survive (100% survival rate).

I had undiagnosed vasa previa and VCI while pregnant with my son. It is a miracle that he is alive.

I do not mean to scare you, I just want to make sure that you are informed.

Please email me back if you have further questions.

W.

what is velamentous insertion of an umbilical cord?

I don't have any experience with this but from what I read about the condition I would recommend that you listen to your OB and follow his/her advice. You seem to have a very healthy approach to the situation but not everyone does because they have strong feelings about birthing naturally. We are lucky to have all the test we do today to prevent complications that could be caused by situations like this. It seems you could bleed exessively should the contrations become too strong or the baby's position as it's delivered threaten the delicate blood vessels not protected due to this condition. If your doctor recommends a c-section I would go with it. In the meantime, relax knowing everything that I came across indicates that everything is fine while the baby is in utero.

A note about Pitocin - seems you'd want to avoid it at all costs with this condition! Good luck and God bless you and your little one!