umbilical cord

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Anatomy The flexible cordlike structure connecting a fetus at the abdomen with the placenta and containing two umbilical arteries and one vein that transport nourishment to the fetus and remove its wastes.
• noun Something likened to this structure; a source or means of support or sustenance.
• noun Any of various external electrical lines or fluid tubes that supply a rocket before launch.
• noun The line that supplies an astronaut with oxygen and in some cases with communications while outside the spacecraft.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun anatomy The flexible structure connecting a foetus with the placenta; which transports nourishment to the foetus and removes waste.
• noun aerospace The line that supplies an astronaut with oxygen and communications when outside a spacecraft
• noun aerospace any of the various lines connecting a rocket to its launch pad before liftoff

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun membranous duct connecting the fetus with the placenta