Umbilical cord length and parity--the Greek experience.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between parity and cord length, with respect to peripartum characteristics.

STUDY DESIGN: Parity, cord length, placental and birth weight were the studied variables in a sample of 534 parturients with singleton fetuses. Parturients were divided into four groups: primiparous (para-1), secundiparous (para-2), tetriparous (para-3) and multiparous (para >3). Oneway ANOVA and post-hoc tests were applied for the comparison of mean cord length between the four groups of parity. General Linear Model was applied for the detection of covariates.

RESULTS: ANOVA yielded significant differences between the four groups. Mean cord length was significantly higher in women of parity >or=3 than in women with lower parity. Although both placental and birth weight were correlated with cord length, application of GLM showed that only birth weight could act as a covariate for the length differences between parity groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Cord length appears to increase with advancing parity, the cut-off point being between the second and the third labor. We suggest that intrapartum monitoring should be performed in all multiparous parturients, because of their propensity for longer cords, and thus for related complications.