I'm 33 weeks pregnant. Came to the hospital for something completely unrelated to baby. While I was here, they had the baby Doppler on my stomach. Heart rate at one point went from 150s to 50. It was only like that for about 80 seconds. A couple of Drs said the baby most likely got on the cord. I was admitted due to it and given steroids. At 2 am, the heart rate dropped to 80, but went right back up. Again today at 2 if dropped to 90 but went back up after only a short time. I've seen so many doctors and they all have different opinions. Baby is still very active and no issues whatsoever with that. Heart rate other than those have been awesome, very strong. A couple doctors said that it most likely happens to a lot of women, but they aren't being monitored. So now, one doctor said I could Go home today, another said tomorrow and now the last doctor I saw was very discouraging. He said not for a few more days and possibly til 37 weeks! I feel so blind sighted by all this as baby is moving just fine. I'm so scared I'm going to have an unnecessary surgery and have a baby born 7 weeks too early over a coincidence. Please, can anyone help? I have no idea what to think anymore with all these doctors. 
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I had decels during labor and ended up with an emergency C-section after 36 hours. When they pulled my son out, he definitely had the cord wrapped around his neck and labor in conjunction with the cord placement had been causing the decels.
Depending on how much room there is in there and how active the baby is, playing with and squashing the cord is pretty common. I think your doctors are right in that it probably happens a lot more than we think but people just aren't on a doppler all the time. You might ask them to do an ultrasound with the color overlay to see the blood flow and see if they can detect where his cord is if you're really worried. If you do have to deliver early, I think 35 weeks is the preferred cut off, so if you have to stay in hospital, hopefully its just for a few more weeks.
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Yes, mine had her cord wrapped around her neck too. I almost had emergency c-section b/c her heart rate was low for a while.
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I am really surprised they didn't do an u/s to check for low fluid/cord issues (and for other things as well). I would ask for one (demand if necessary), and I would hold off on going home until they can make a more definitive determination.
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@pwnstar: they did do an ultrasound. Fluid level is great and no other issues
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I was on bedrest in the hospital for awhile and had constant heart monitoring. My doctors said that when you are having continuous monitoring that it's normal to have decelerations and can be related to position, etc. It's just important that the baby's heart rate recovers within 1 minute. I want to say she said they usually see two to three decelerations every 24 hours, but I'm not 100%.
I found an article that said between 28 to 32 weeks that heart decelerations are present in 50% of NSTs done. The author happens to be an OBGYN where I live.
http://www.nuthalapaty.net/kb/creog_display.asp?y=all&q=3-2-D-3
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Yeah, I wouldn't go home until I had some answers. Not to be super scary, but my coworker lost his baby at 35 weeks due to an in utero cord accident. I would rather be at the hospital for constant monitoring than risk it. As aside, I delivered at 34 weeks, so I get the overwhelming nature of it all. Hang in there.
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were they able to tell where the cord was? I know they can see the blood flow in the cord so they should be able to tell where the cord is. i feel like as the baby gets bigger, the decelerations might get worse since theres less room. i'd def err on the side of caution on this one and try to figure out why the decelerations are happening (cord around neck? cord getting squashed? knot in cord?) i was monitored alot for my second pregnancy and never saw decelerations
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@lov2teach: I would want to talk to the doctor with the most conservative approach (the one who wanted you to stay the longest) to ask more questions about his/her concerns and rationale . . . I would want to err on the side of caution, for sure. I'm so sorry you're going through this!
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With my daughter this happened a couple times when I was being monitored at 34 weeks. Each time it happened every nurse in L&D came rushing in. They hooked me up to an u/s and saw that the little stinker was squeezing her own umbilical cord!!! So nothing to worry about. With my son he kept having decels during labor. He ended up coming out with the cord around his neck twice, but he was fine.
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This happened to me - I went to the OB for a routine explanation of the risks of a VBAC (my regular care provider was a midwife), she insisted on listening to the baby with a Doppler, heard decels, and sent me to L&D for ultrasound and monitoring. I did have low fluid, and they ultimately decided baby was just compressing his cord. Fingers crossed that you get an answer and a release soon!
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Thanks all!
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