Sonographic measurements of the umbilical cord in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the umbilical cord measurements in pregnant patients with gestational diabetes. We found that the umbilical cord was significantly larger in fetuses of mothers with gestational diabetes than in the normal population and that the main increase in the width is attributed to an increase in Wharton jelly content. It is suggested that this finding may be an additional parameter that can differentiate between the appropriate-for-gestational-age fetus from a normal pregnancy and that from a pregnancy in a mother with gestational diabetes, and between the macrosomic fetus of a diabetic pregnancy from the genetically large fetus.