• Umbilical cord care basics

    Date: 2011.03.02 | Category: Post-partum | Tags: ,

    Every new mother will have to deal with an umbilical cord stump until it falls off, unless of course they are having a lotus birth, in which case they’ll have the entire cord and placenta to care for. If you are wondering how to care for your newborn’s umbilical cord stump, here are some dos and don’ts. For those who are planning an unassisted homebirth, we’ll discuss when, how and where to cut the umbilical cord as well.

    1) The first umbilical cord care “don’t” starts with birth. Don’t cut the umbilical cord while it is still pulsing, and allow your baby to receive as much of its blood from the placenta as possible. The benefits of delayed cord clamping and cutting – or should I say, the risks of prematurely cord clamping – have been scientifically proven. If you are having a homebirth, waiting for as long as you want until you cut your baby’s umbilical cord should not be a problem. You can even leave the cord intact and attached to the placenta until it naturally detaches, and have a lotus birth. If you are going to have a hospital birth, you might want to discuss delayed cord clamping in advance to ensure that your wish is your caregivers command – something that can be rather difficult in an institutionalized setting on occasion!

    1) Unassisted birthers, who are not planning on a lotus birth, can clamp or tie their baby’s umbilical cord once it is done pulsing. Once the umbilical cord has gone totally limp and white, this is not strictly necessary any more. Cord clamping is mainly done to prevent blood from gushing out while the cord is still pulsing. If you do want to clamp or tie the cord, you can order cord clamps or cord ties from any birth supplies store on the internet. Some cord ties are beautiful indeed!

    2) You can sever the cord with a boiled pair of scissors or a knife. If the cord stump attached to your baby is too long, you can always take another piece off later, but it is important to make sure that you do not cut the cord too short. Ten centimeters, or about four inches, is a good guide.

    3) Traditionally, doctors have put disinfectants like iodine on umbilical cord stumps, and covered it is with gauze. I have heard natural birth advocates advise putting herbal solutions or breast milk on a cord stump, and I have personally used both iodine and breast milk with my daughter and my son respectively. But, new research shows that giving the cord stump as much air as possible and keeping it dry, not putting anything on it, keeps the chances of infection at a minimum. Cords treated with anything are more likely to take a longer time to fall off, and start showing signs of infection.

    4) While your baby still has a cord stump attached, make very sure that diapers, clothing, or anything else, does not rub against the cord stump.

    5) Don’t pull on the cord, or “assist” it to fall off. Resist the temptation to do this even if a tiny little string is all that left. The umbilical cord will come off in its own time.

    This post was already published before, but fell victim to a URL error. I’m republishing it because of that!