Hello Doctor, I Am Currently 26 Weeks Pregnant. I Have
I am currently 26 weeks pregnant. I have hypercoiled umbilical cord. The baby is measuring all right and I have gained 17 pounds in this pregnancy. I have been taking susten 200 twice a day since beginning of pregnancy and 60 mg aspirin per day. I m scared to stop the progesterone as I don’t know how the umbilical cord will affect it. Please let me know if it will be safe to take susten till 38 weeks as at 39 weeks I m scheduled for induction.
The umbilical cord will not change the management
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch,
Thanks for using 'Ask A Doctor' service.
Not to make you worried, but the hypercoiled umbilical cords are a known risk factor for adverse outcomes, including sometimes causing fetal mortality so it will be very important that your baby is monitored closely, especially in the third trimester. Your doctor will probably want to regular testing on the baby to make sure he or she is doing alright, and you should do daily fetal movement counts.
The progesterone does the affect this condition, so you would take it as it was originally planned. For women with a previous preterm birth, it is typically started in the second trimester (16 to 20 weeks), and continued through 37 weeks, at which point it can be stopped.
There would be no need to take it after 37 weeks, and I wouldn't recommend using it after that since at that point the baby would not be likely to have problems being born, and there would be no reason to intentionally try to delay labor at that point.
However, if your doctor has recommended using it for 38 weeks, they may have reasons for that I am not aware of, and you should always follow your doctor's recommendations. Taking progesterone until 38 weeks would be safe as well.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any questions, I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
Thanks for your reply. Just curious, why hypercoiled umbilical cords happen. Is there anything that can be done to make it better.
Thanks
Not known
Detailed Answer:
There have not been many studies looking at this, and from what I know, the cause isn't known. But once the umbilical cord becomes hypercoiled, there is nothing that can be done to change it, the treatment is just to watch the baby carefully.