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Objective: To establish base-line data on cord length among Igbo parturients of Eastern Nigeria, especially relationship between age and parity, gestation length, sex and weight of newborn, placental weight., Design: Retrospective analysis of 1,000 consecutive deliveries., Setting: Mission hospital., Materials and Methods: Placental length of umbilical cord, placental weight, and prenatal data., Results: Cord length varied between 15 cm and 130 cm (mean, 51.5 cm). No relationship found to parity, maternal age, or sex of baby. Increase in cord length with birthweight and gestational age, up to term. Correlation between umbilical length and placental weight, with a variation according to lie of the fetus: longest in cord encirclement and unstable lie, shortest in breech presentation, transverse lie, and twin birth.

In this study of the umbilical cord lengths of 602 Nigerian infants delivered at term, the mean, median and modal measurements were 57.48, 57.71 and 68.00 cm, respectively (range = 20-100 cm). There was a significant positive correlation between cord length and fetal weight (r = 0.2177, p less than 0.001) and also between cord length and placental weight (r = 0.2504, p less than 0.001). Other fetal and maternal variables studied did not correlate with cord length. Further investigations of the factors responsible for the growth of the umbilical vessels are needed.