The attachment connecting the fetus with the placenta. It contains two arteries and one vein surrounded by a gelatinous substance, Wharton's jelly. The umbilical arteries carry blood from the fetus to the placenta, where nutrients are obtained and carbon dioxide and oxygen are exchanged; this oxygenated blood returns to the fetus through the umbilical vein.

Figure: UMBILICAL CORD




The umbilical cord is surgically severed after the birth of the child. To give the infant a better blood supply, the cord should not be cut or tied until the umbilical vessels have ceased pulsating. However, in preterm infants, the cord should be clamped and cut before pulsation ceases to avoid maternal-newborn transfusion and reduce the risk of hypovolemia, polycythemia, and hyperbilirubinemia.

The stump of the severed cord atrophies and leaves a depression on the abdomen of the child, called a navel or umbilicus.