How many umbilical arteries does the fetus have?

Pregnant mothers are more worried about the physical development of the baby in their belly, and when the baby is in the mother's belly, it is very likely that there will be congenital developmental defects. Therefore, pregnant mothers will go for regular prenatal check-ups for the sake of their baby’s health. There is a very important artery around the baby, that is the umbilical artery, which is mainly an artery for transporting nutrients and blood. How many umbilical arteries are there in a normal baby?

The umbilical artery refers to the artery that originates from the fetal heart during the development of the mammalian embryo and transports metabolic waste and carbon dioxide produced by the fetus to the placenta and then to the mother's body.

Umbilical artery: It is an arterial trunk in the fetal period. After birth, its distal segment is closed to form the medial umbilical ligament, while the proximal segment is not closed and is connected to the initial segment of the internal iliac artery. It gives off 2 to 3 superior vesical arteries, which are distributed in the upper and middle parts of the bladder.

The normal fetal umbilical cord consists of two umbilical arteries and one umbilical vein. Single umbilical artery (SUA) is a common umbilical cord abnormality that can be clearly diagnosed by prenatal ultrasound examination. The incidence of single umbilical artery is reported in foreign literature to be approximately 0.2% to 2.0%, and the incidence in twin pregnancy is 3 to 4 times that in single pregnancy.

Related diseases

Trisomy 13 and trisomy 18 are most commonly affected, whereas trisomy 21 and sex chromosome abnormalities rarely present with a single umbilical artery. In most aneuploid fetuses with a single umbilical artery, other structural abnormalities may be detected by ultrasound, and karyotype analysis should be performed. Single umbilical artery pregnancy should be considered as "high-risk" and should be closely followed up by obstetricians because these fetuses are at risk of congenital heart disease, premature birth, low birth weight, and hypoxia. Increased risk of kidney disease.

A single umbilical artery interferes with the blood supply during embryonic development and can cause developmental abnormalities in the fetal cardiovascular system, central nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, skeletal system, urogenital system, and fetal limbs.