Care of newborn umbilical cord

If you see signs of redness, heat, swelling or pressure on the skin around the navel or many secretions around the umbilical cord, especially bad smell, it is necessary to bring the child to the hospital immediately as she may have an infection.

Parents, especially young parents, are often very worried about how to care for their umbilical cord. The most important advice is to keep the umbilical cord dry and clean until the navel falls.

The umbilical cord connects the fetus to the mother through the placenta from the sixth week of pregnancy until birth. As a living road, the umbilical cord provides oxygen, a nutrient for the developing fetus and carries away the fetal waste. At birth, because the newborn has the ability to breathe, suck and urinate, the umbilical cord becomes unnecessary, so it is clamped and cut immediately after birth.

It is important to properly take care of the rest of your umbilical cord until your umbilical cord heals and loses - usually about two weeks after birth. The umbilical cord will change color from green to black when dry.

Take care of your navel at home

Mothers need to keep their umbilical cord dry and clean until the navel falls.(Photo: Health & Life)

In the first day after giving birth, usually after a baby shower, health workers apply antiseptic solution to the umbilical cord to reduce the risk of infection.

24 hours after birth, when the umbilical cord is cut dry, it is possible to remove the cord of the cord from the cord. The cord clamp should be removed at the hospital, before the newborn is discharged home. Umbilical cord clamping may interfere with changing diapers at home and may result in pulling and pulling, causing umbilical cord injury.

The doctors allowed to cover the navel with a sterile gauze layer for the first 1-2 days. There are many studies that show that applying 70-degree alcoholic solution on the navel every day can slow down umbilical cord, so you need to follow your doctor's instructions.

Keep the umbilical cord dry, open, allowing the cord to come in contact with the air to help dry the cord. Wrap diapers below the navel. After the child is young, urine needs to change diapers immediately.

When the umbilical cord has not fallen, avoid placing the child in the bath. Use a small soft cloth to wipe the young person, then use a stick to wipe the child's navel. When the umbilical cord falls, it is possible to immerse the child in the bath.

A small amount of dry blood on the navel's feet may be normal.

When to bring children to the doctor

When newborns fever, children need to go to the doctor immediately. There are a number of situations where navel-related diseases need to be brought to the doctor for examination:

- Umbilical cord infection : if you see signs of redness, heat, swelling or pressure on the skin around the navel, or more secretions around the umbilical cord, especially bad smell, it is necessary to bring the child to the hospital immediately. This is the case with children with umbilical cord infection and skin around the navel, which can be dangerous, needing treatment at the hospital.

- Umbilical umbilical cord : if you see the umbilical cord of the yellow cord is lingering for a long time, without signs of swelling, heat, redness, or pain in the skin around the navel, the child is not hot, maybe the child has umbilical granuloma. In the hospital, umbilical granuloma is treated with silver nitrate.

- Prolonged umbilical cord blood : if you see your umbilical cord bleeding a lot and lasts, may be a sign of coagulopathy, you should see your doctor.