Methods: A prospective observational study included 110 umbilical cords (UC) procured from KLES Dr. Prabhakar
Kore Charitable Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Belagavi, India. Formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissues
were processed and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and Masson’s trichrome stain. Histomorphometric
measurements of cross sectional areas (CSA) of umbilical vessels like total vessel area (mm2), lumen area (mm2) and
vessel wall area (mm2) were taken with 40X magnification with the help of Olympus microscope having digital image
analyzer attachment. The relevant personal data of mother and neonate were recorded. Independent t test was used to
compare means and chi-square test for categorical variables.