Occult Cord

An occult cord prolapse occurs when the umbilical cord descends alongside–but not past–the presenting part of the baby. Occult cords can occur with ruptured or intact membranes. They can cause hypoxia, brain injury, and permanent disability in a baby, so medical personnel must address them rapidly and appropriately.

Transcript

Another type of cord complication is an occult cord. That’s when the cord is not necessarily around the neck, but it’s still being occluded because it’s wedged somehow between the baby’s body part and the mom’s pelvis. So, when the contraction occurs, there’s still that compression and that cease of blood flow. And again, if there’s a prolonged labor with lots of contractions, each and every time that blood source is cut off, it’s putting baby at risk for hypoxia.