Umbilical cord prolapse: A 10-year retrospective study in two civil hospitals, North Jordan

Umbilical cord prolapse (UCP) is an obstetric emergency. The objective of our study was to determine the frequency of cord prolapse, its aetiological factors and to evaluate fetal prognosis. This was a retrospective review of cord prolapse deliveries in the main two civil hospitals in North Jordan between 1995 and 2005, at Princess Badeea Hospital and at King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH) in Irbid, North Jordan. There were 146 patients identified with UCP among a total of 64,192 consecutive births. The incidence of cord prolapse was one in 440 cases (146/64,192). It occurred mostly in women over 25 years, and significantly more in pre-term births, low birth weight babies, multigravida, and only a few were associated with induced cases. It was not associated with higher rates of perinatal mortality and this supports the benefit of clinical management of UCP by emergency (crash) delivery.