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Objective: To verify the association between the macroscopic characteristics of the umbilical cord, high-risk pregnancy and neonatal repercussions., Method: A cross-sectional study carried out from January 2012 to January 2015 in a public maternity hospital in Goiânia/GO. The study population consisted of 126 recent puerperal women with diagnosis of high-risk pregnancy, and 139 clinically normal women (control group). Macroscopic features of the umbilical cord, maternal, fetal and neonatal diseases, gestational age, Apgar score, birth weight, head circumference and parity were evaluated. Data were descriptively analyzed., Results: 265 puerperal women and their respective newborns participated in the study. The most frequent characteristics of the umbilical cord of those with high-risk pregnancy and those from the control group were the absence of true knots (97.6% and 2.4%, respectively), length between 35 and 70 centimeters and paracentral insertion (81.7% and 18.3%). A statistical difference was observed between the high-risk pregnancy group and extremes of maternal age (p=0.004)., Conclusion: The analysis and description of the characteristics of the umbilical cord carried out by the nurse lend important information about the neonatal prognosis. This evaluation subsidizes clinical practice and seeks to ensure the safety of the (mother-baby) binomial throughout the perinatal period.

A recent reassessment of the phylogenetic affinities of cetaceans makes it timely to compare their placentation with that of the artiodactyls. We studied the placentae of two sympatric species of dolphin from the Amazon River Basin, representing two distinct families. The umbilical cord branched to supply a bilobed allantoic sac. Small blood vessels and smooth muscle bundles were found within the stroma of the cord. Foci of squamous metaplasia occurred in the allanto-amnion and allantochorion. The interhemal membrane of the placenta was of the epitheliochorial type. Two different types of trophoblastic epithelium were seen. Most was of the simple columnar type and indented by fetal capillaries. However, there were also areolar regions with tall columnar trophoblast and these were more sparsely supplied with capillaries. The endometrium was well vascularised and richly supplied with actively secreting glands. These findings are consistent with the current view that Cetacea are nested within Artiodactyla as sister group to the hippopotamids.