Parents are often frightened to think about the baby's umbilical cord being around the neck at birth. The truth is that this is a very common event, occurring in about one third of all births. The cord becomes wrapped around the neck during pregnancy as the baby moves around.
The umbilical cord is covered with a thick protective coating known as Wharton's Jelly. This is like gristle in texture and prevents the baby from compressing the arteries and vein that run through the cord. So the cord being wrapped does not usually pose a problem for baby.