Evaluation of Umbilical Cord Diameter and its Correlation with Birth Weight of Neonates: A Cross-Sectional Study from North India

Background: There are few research publications in literature which put the relationship of umbilical cord thickness with birth weight of neonates. Aim and Objective: To evaluate the umbilical cord thickness and determine the correlation with birth weight of newborn. Material and Methods: This was a cross sectional analytical study conducted between December 2020 and January2022 at Rajkiya Mahila Chikitsalaya, J L N Medical College, Ajmer, India. Three hundred and three neonates were enrolled for this study. Simple random sampling was done for this study. Umbilical cord thickness was measured just after delivery. Results: Mean umbilical cord diameter was 9.89±2.53 mm. The thickness of umbilical cord of males and females were 10.3±2.4 mm, 10.2±2.3 mm respectively (p value=0.76). Birth weight was found to be positively correlated with the umbilical cord diameter (r=0.236; p<0.001). Conclusion: Thin umbilical cord is associated with low birth weight and its consequences.