Is fetal growth affected by cord entanglement?

Cord entanglement is a common occurrence during delivery. We examined the association of cord complications observed at delivery and birth weight. A retrospective survey of 12,241 births was performed, supplemented with a prospective study of an additional 456 deliveries. No adverse association was found in the retrospective data between cord coiled twice or more around the newborns' neck (8.3% of cases) and birth weight. Moreover, the incidence of cord around neck was significantly lower (p < 0.0006) in infants weighing less than 2000 gm at birth. A multiple regression analysis of the prospective data did not reveal any significant influence of cord complications on birth weight. We conclude that cord entanglement was not found to be a major cause of intrauterine disadvantage in pregnancies with a viable infant at term, as reflected by birth weight.