News Moms Need

Many new moms and dads are nervous about caring for their baby’s umbilical cord stump. It’s not difficult, but you need to pay attention to make sure it doesn’t get infected.

Your baby’s umbilical cord stump will drop off at about 10 days after birth. Until then, keep it clean and dry.
• Tuck the diaper below the cord so that the cord is exposed to the air.
• Be sure the area around the cord is clean and dry. If it gets dirty, clean the area with a baby wipe. Or dip a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol, and gently clean around the cord.
• Call your baby’s provider if you see pus or redness or if he cries when you touch the area. These could be signs of infection.
To learn how to give your baby a sponge bath until his belly button heals, read Bathing Your Baby.

This common hernia in infants usually appears as a soft lump or bulge beneath the navel. You may see it most clearly when your baby is crying, pushing her belly outward. It occurs when a portion of the intestine bulges through the abdominal wall. This happens when the muscles in the area fail to close around the belly button after the umbilical cord falls off.  It appears to be more common in girls, particularly African Americans, or premature babies.

While the sight of this may cause you to panic, it’s usually nowhere near as bad as you may think.  The good news is that umbilical hernias usually aren’t serious or painful to the baby and they go away without treatment by the fifth birthday, often much sooner.  But if you suspect your baby has a hernia, you must call your child’s provider and have it properly diagnosed.  It will be important to monitor it for changes over time. If it enlarges or if you see swelling, severe pain, vomiting and/or your baby exhibits extreme weakness, call your child’s provider right away as a serious complication could exist.  If surgery is required, it’s usually a quick fix.

By the way, old folk remedies for treating umbilical hernias were to snuggly wrap the abdomen or tape a coin over the area.  These approaches don’t work and can actually cause harm.  Just keep an eye on it and keep your child’s provider updated.

As soon as you get pregnant, you may find yourself drowning in ads encouraging you to save the blood from your baby’s umbilical cord. What’s a mother to do?

The hope is that this blood might be able to protect the baby from some serious diseases in the future. But many scientists have doubts and concerns. 

This is a complicated subject. Storage can be expensive, and its benefits are not clear. The March of Dimes fact sheet lays out the pro’s and con’s.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has a position on the issue. For families who do not have a history of certain diseases, the AAP thinks it is unwise to store cord blood in a private blood bank. The AAP and many scientists favor the collection and storage of cord blood in public banks.

WNYC, a radio station in New York city, ran a good feature this week on this topic. Give a listen.

Have you made your decision? Please tell us about it.

In case you missed it, check out Pam’s post from last week on cord blood.  I find the whole thing fascinating. I’m not talking about the potential benefits of stem cell research either. I’m talking about the business behind it. Now that I’m expecting I’m targeted with advertisements on a regular basis to save my baby’s cord blood for personal use. Whether I’m flipping through a pregnancy magazine, shopping at a maternity store or watching TV, I can’t seem to escape the image of that little baby looking down at her belly button.

I’ve done a lot of reading (not including the pamphlets dropped in my shopping bag) and talked to my provider about it. Based on our family medical history, my husband and I decided against storing our babies cord blood in a private bank. We are very much in favor and interested in donating the cord blood however.

There is no cost to parents who donate their baby’s cord blood to a public bank. However, this option is not available everywhere. The National Marrow Donor Program provides a complete listing of participating hospitals; the program’s phone number is (800) 627-7692. Parents who choose to donate their baby’s cord blood must complete a lengthy parental health and disease questionnaire. The mother also must have blood tests for diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. In some cases, parents may have to pay for these tests if their insurance does not cover them.