Medical Must-See: Unusual umbilical finding ties doctors in knots
Luckily, the infant was normal and healthy, and was discharged two days after birth.
A US infant might be the next Houdini after escaping, unscathed, from both a double and a single ‘true’ knot in the umbilical cord upon delivery.
While most umbilical cord knots are diagnosed by ultrasound before birth, they can be easily missed – as happened in the case of this mother, who presented to hospital in labour at 39 weeks’ gestation.
The 40-year-old – who had previously had three live births and was in her sixth pregnancy – had undergone routine ultrasounds at 12 and 19 weeks with no problems detected.
She had an “uneventful” labour, with a healthy fetal tracing.
