What should pregnant women with single umbilical artery pay attention to?

Pregnant women should be more vigilant during pregnancy, especially to be fully aware of the development of the fetus in their belly. Because in modern life, more and more women are constantly discovering fetal development problems during pregnancy, leading to many more serious consequences. Among them, single umbilical artery is a relatively rare symptom, which is very detrimental to the development of the fetus. Let's take a look at what pregnant women with single umbilical artery should pay attention to?

Single umbilical artery refers to the phenomenon that the fetus's umbilical cord has only one umbilical artery and one vein.

The problem with a fetus with a single umbilical artery is that the chance of abnormalities is higher than with a double umbilical artery. If you do an ultrasound, everything will be normal. Then the risk is the same as for an ordinary fetus.

There is no need to pay special attention to anything. Mothers should just make sure to eat more nutritious foods, such as eggs and milk.

Because the single umbilical artery disrupts the blood supply to the lower half of the early embryo, it can lead to fetal cardiovascular malformations, central nervous system defects, gastrointestinal tract, skeletal muscle system, urogenital system and lower limb developmental malformations, and also affect the formation of the abdominal wall below the navel, leading to visceral protrusion, etc.

There are many types of single umbilical artery malformations, most of which are fatal and have a high mortality rate. They are closely related to IUGR and premature birth, and some cases are related to chromosomal genetic factors.

The umbilical cord is the main pathway for substance exchange between the fetus and the mother. At full term, the blood flow through the umbilical cord is about 125 ml/kg.min. The umbilical artery radiates from the root of the placenta into several branches that enter the chorionic plate, then branch into chorionic arteries that are distributed in the villi at all levels, forming capillaries within the villi, and finally converge into the umbilical vein.

The main things to do for a single umbilical artery are to do a thorough examination, rule out developmental abnormalities, and do an ultrasound to screen for fetal malformations. At least two level three screenings should be done. One between 20-23 weeks and one between 28-32 weeks. It is also recommended to do a fetal cardiac ultrasound and [fetal echocardiogram] to rule out the possibility of congenital heart disease. Best done between 24-26 weeks. It is best not to exceed 28 weeks. If conditions permit, it is also recommended to do fetal chromosome testing. If everything is normal, just wait for delivery with peace of mind.