Maternal Effects of Nuchal Cord during Pregnancy and Labor

By virtue of the placenta connecting the mothers circulation with the fetal circulation in utero, exchange of biological products occur, between a pregnant mother and the unborn fetus. Free hydrogen ion or acidosis when it moves from the fetus to the mother's circulation can cause increased respiratory rate in the mother as a way to balance or neutralize this sudden increase.If this control mechanism fails due to continued production of the fetal acid, then naturally the mother will be threatened, and inevitably the fetus also will equally be compromised.A case control study design was done to establish the fact that, progressive fetal acidosis evidenced by fetal heart rate>152/min and umbilical cord PH of<7.30], causes significant [3 fold] increase in maternal respiratory rate, from 24/minute to 40/minute under 2minutes, and if unchecked leads to fetal death.In the control study, where there was no nuchal cord, and resultant cord stricture, the increased fetal heart rate returned back to normal, from 170/min to 140/min and also the resp returned to normal from 28/min to 24/min