A NEWBORN was saved by doctors at Shenzhen Luohu People’s Hospital after his umbilical cord had prolapsed, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Sunday.

The expectant mother, surnamed Yang, who is a diabetes patient, was about to deliver her baby at the hospital May 18 when a midwife found that her infant’s heart rate was slowing down. You Jinju, the doctor on duty, checked on Yang later and found that the baby’s umbilical cord had prolapsed.

The doctors decided to perform an immediate cesarean section on Yang in the delivery room because the baby would suffocate if he lost blood supply through the umbilical cord. Meanwhile, You held the cord and the baby’s head steady so that the cord wouldn’t be squashed.

The baby, weighing 3.25 kilograms, was born healthy at 12:41 p.m., 11 minutes after the midwife noticed the baby’s decelerating heart rate. Xu Haifeng, a doctor from the hospital’s anesthesia department, also made a great contribution by putting Yang under general anesthesia within 3 minutes, according to the report.

Umbilical cord prolapse occurs when the umbilical cord comes out of the uterus with or before the presenting part of the fetus. It is a relatively rare condition and occurs in less than 1 percent of pregnancies. Cord prolapse is more common in women who have had a rupture of their amniotic sac.

Zhou Yun, director of the hospital’s obstetrical department, said that expectant mothers should lie flat and elevate their buttocks with clothes or pillows after their water breaks to avoid umbilical cord prolapse. They should have a balanced diet and avoid spicy food or vaginal examinations. (Zhang Yang)