Caring for your newborn’s umbilical cord stump...

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✂️ At birth, the umbilical cord is clamped and cut - leaving an inch or so of cord coming from baby's belly. It begins to dry up in the first couple days and the clamp can be removed. The dried up cord then falls off in about 1-3 weeks.⁣

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In these first couple weeks when the cord is still attached, it's very important to keep it clean and dry to promote healing and prevent infection.⁣

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🧴 It used to be recommended to use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean it and to help dry it up faster so that it would fall off sooner. However, it was recently discovered that just keeping the cord dry can actually help it to fall off quicker.⁣

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🦠 Use of alcohol or hydrogen peroxide is no longer recommended for people living in more developed countries. They can actually kill off some bacteria while allowing more resistant strains (bacteria that are harder to kill) to grow instead.⁣

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👨🏿‍⚕️ Hydrogen peroxide in particular can kill healthy cells and shouldn't be used for anything other than minor scrapes without consulting a physician.⁣

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👶🏼 Caring for the cord:⁣

▪️ Keep it dry⁣

▪️ Keep diaper folded underneath it to prevent it from getting irritated⁣

▪️ Don't keep baby in tight clothes all the time because this could also lead to irritation⁣

▪️ Avoid tub baths until the cord has fallen off (because obviously it would get very wet in a tub!) 🛁 - sponge baths only!🧽⁣

▪️ Don't pull it off - allow it to fall off on it's own⁣

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☠ Signs of infection (call the doctor):⁣

▪️ Redness/swelling 🔴⁣

▪️ Drainage - a small amount of blood is normal; pus is concerning⁣

▪️ Foul smell 👃⁣

▪️ Hasn't fallen off after about 3 weeks⁣

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@Khushboo Chouhan