So what happens when the umbilical cord comes out first instead of the head?

Welcome to the all about pregnancy and birth podcast. I'm Dr. Nicole Calloway Rankins, a board

certified OBGYN who's been in practice for nearly 15 years.

I've had the privilege of helping over 1,000 babies into this world, and I'm here to help you be calm, confident, and empowered to have a beautiful pregnancy in birth.

Quick note, this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute

for medical advice. Check out the full disclaimer at Dr.nacle rankins.com forward slash disclaimer.

Now let's get to it.

Hello there. Welcome to this short episode of the podcast, whether you are a new listener or a

returning listener. I'm so glad you're spending some of your time with me today. So in today's

short episode of the podcast, I am doing a little story time, a day in the life of an OBGYN.

That's me.

I'm going to share a story about umbilical cord prolapse.

So here's what happened.

I was walking down the hall, headed to a patient's room, and I heard at the front in the nursing station

somebody say call Dr. Rankins now. So I run down the hall. They tell me to run

into a specific room and when I walk into the room I see a like a seven to eight inch loop of umbilical cord hanging out of the patient's

vagina.

Now this is called an umbilical cord prolapse and it is a true obstetric emergency.

So what can happen in an umbilical core prolapse is that the core

comes down and it can get squeezed and it can pretty quickly cut off blood supply to the baby.

The umbilical cord is what connects the baby to the placenta and the mom to get all the nutrients

and the oxygen and all of those things.

...