Did you stop to consider that perhaps the reason complications are rare from the umbilical cord wrapping around the neck, is because medical professionals are actively monitoring for it and mitigating the issue?
I absolutely did consider that. Did you consider that I might actually have looked into this reasonably seriously at one point? Like, say, when I was on my way to being a father?
The link that I provided explains the characteristics of the umbilical cord that have been evolved to minimize the probability of problems. It really isn't a problem. Even in childbirths where people don't worry about the umbilical cord.
This shouldn't come as a surprise. Evolution has selected for safe natural childbirth. Unfortunately in homo sapiens there is a conflict between our recent evolutionary pressure for large heads, the needs of walking, and for safety during childbirth. And so childbirth is much more dangerous for us than for other mammals.
Modern humans also have the problem of mothers in poor health. Reasons vary from drug use, to age, to sedentary lifestyles. Of these, drug use is the most dangerous. Despite most mothers not using drugs, drug use is a factor in something like half of childbirth deaths.
Then there is the list of usual complications. Breech birth, infection, blood type incompatibility, diabetes, heart attack and so on. It is a long list. It interacts with the previous lists - for example breech birth is made more dangerous because of our large heads. Complications from knotting of the umbilical cord is very far down the list of things that go wrong.
>Did you consider that I might actually have looked into this reasonably seriously at one point
Pretty much the question I was asking.
While I don't appreciate OPs mockery around CI/CD, what they said about the unbilical cord was accurate. I don't see where the supposed lecture on dangers you mentioned came from.
The post that started this thread was mocking doctors without a proper understanding of the mechanics involved. But sure, it must be a valid criticism by someone who has done their own research.
Not something I've looked into before and I've learned that it seems like it is rare for it to cause issues.
Personally I'd still want a professional on hand to be on the lookout, your posted article links to research where 0.6% of births had the cord wrapped around 3 times and that was correlated with infant death. That's something I would think is of concern even if not of very high chance.
> This is just wildly ignorant, they're concerned about occlusion of bloodflow through the cord and/or the carotid artery.
And no, this is not an accurate lecture. Most of the time that particular lecture is delivered by doctors who actually know it is not an issue, but want to scare patients into being in hospital for other reasons.
As for the post that started this thread, I have a context that you don't. I recognized the circle of ideas that would have been in that natural childbirth class. And so had context for where they would come from.
At that point every professional in the room is thinking "How do we get this guy the fuck out of here".