Umbilical Cord Prolapse

It is when the umbilical cord slips down ahead of the baby, into or through the cervix, usually just after the water breaks. Because the baby then presses on the cord, its oxygen supply can be pinched off. It is an emergency that requires delivering the baby immediately, almost always by emergency cesarean.

It is a serious emergency for the baby, because compression of the cord cuts off oxygen. But the outcome depends heavily on how fast it is managed, and it almost always happens in the hospital during labor, where the team can deliver within minutes. In that setting the risk to the baby is low, around 3%. What harms babies is delay.

If your water breaks and you feel something in your vagina, which could be a loop of cord, call 911 right away, and while you wait, get into a knee-chest position: kneel with your chest and head down and your bottom raised, which shifts the baby's weight off the cord. Do not try to push the cord back. Call an ambulance rather than driving, so you can stay in that position, and tell them you think the cord has prolapsed.

Almost certainly. Emergency cesarean is the fastest safe way to deliver the baby and relieve the pressure on the cord, so it is the standard treatment. In the rare situation where a vaginal delivery is already imminent and would be faster, that may be done, but cesarean is the norm.

It is more likely when the baby's presenting part does not fill the pelvis: a breech or sideways baby, a premature or small baby, twins, and too much amniotic fluid. About half of cases follow a procedure, especially breaking the water while the head is still high. If you have these risk factors, your provider plans accordingly.

Not outright, but the risk can be reduced. Providers avoid artificially breaking the water while the baby's head is high, and a planned cesarean is often chosen for a persistent breech baby to avoid the labor circumstances that raise prolapse risk. Knowing your baby's position and having a delivery plan are the main protective steps.

Usually yes, when it is managed quickly in the hospital, which is where it almost always happens. The team is trained to relieve the pressure on the cord and deliver within minutes, and most babies do well. The poor outcomes almost always involve delay or an out-of-hospital event.

Cord prolapse is an acute event tied to a particular labor and the baby's position, not a condition that predictably recurs, and there is no established recurrence rate. If a future pregnancy has risk factors, such as a breech baby, your provider will plan the delivery with those in mind.