Biphasic Postnatal Umbilical Cord Shortening

Variations in postnatal length of refrigerated, unfixed umbilical cords were studied over time to elucidate natural changes and times of stability.

Length was measured in 132 cords following severance, repeated at varying timed intervals and studied by analysis of variance and regression analysis.

Data show immediate rapid initial phase shortening (mean 4.2+/-3.9 cm SD); an interval of lengthening; stable length at hours 3-4 following severance, a slower second phase shortening (mean 1.5+/-0.7 cm SD) beginning at 5 hours and peaking at 12 hours; and gradual lengthening to stable length after 23 hours. Overall, there was a significant net mean decrease of 3.49+/-2.29 cm SD. Shortening was greatest for intact long cord segments (p=0.0001), as much as 11 cm. Two highly significant models for predicting umbilical cord length at delivery (OL) were determined using the post-delivery lengths (Length) measured at different times following delivery (Hours), as follows:At ≤ 3 hours following delivery: OL=1.02xLength cm+1.11xHoursAt >3 hours following delivery: OL=1.07xLength+0.44xHours-0.01x(Hours)2.

Cord lengths stabilized between hours 3-4 and after 23 hours following severance. Phase one shortening resembles vasoconstriction; phase two resembles rigor mortis. The models allow prediction of the original umbilical cord length at delivery, regardless of the time of measurement.