Cord Care
I was surprised at my latest birth to hear the nurse say that they are no longer applying the triple dye to babies’ umbilical cord stumps. She said they found that the stumps dried up and fell off faster if they didn’t dye them. They still recommend alcohol treatment at every diaper change.
I poked around on-line to see if I could learn anything about this. Methinks I found the reason.
This raises the big cord care question I have never been able to get a satisfactory answer to. Is it good to put the baby in an herbal bath before the cord stump falls off. Hospitals and websites are adamant that you not give your baby a tub bath until the stump falls off. But many midwives I know encourage new mothers to take their babies with them into their postpartum herbal baths because the herbs have antiseptic and healing properties. As far as I know, no one has studied alcohol and sponge bath cord care against herbal bath cord care. I would be most curious to see the results of that.
Incidentally, here’s a U.K. midwives’ site that has great information about cord care worldwide. Depending where you are you will find mothers putting everything from colostrum to dung on their babies’ cords.
I poked around on-line to see if I could learn anything about this. Methinks I found the reason.
This raises the big cord care question I have never been able to get a satisfactory answer to. Is it good to put the baby in an herbal bath before the cord stump falls off. Hospitals and websites are adamant that you not give your baby a tub bath until the stump falls off. But many midwives I know encourage new mothers to take their babies with them into their postpartum herbal baths because the herbs have antiseptic and healing properties. As far as I know, no one has studied alcohol and sponge bath cord care against herbal bath cord care. I would be most curious to see the results of that.
Incidentally, here’s a U.K. midwives’ site that has great information about cord care worldwide. Depending where you are you will find mothers putting everything from colostrum to dung on their babies’ cords.
posted by doulicia at 1:53 PM
4 Comments:
I used alcohol on my first two babies, and they lost their cords in 3-4 weeks. I took two herbal baths with my third, no alcohol, and the cord dropped off when he was six days old. Not only that, but the herbal bath mixture was free. It was a thank you present from the midwives because I had allowed a bunch of midwives-in-training to practice their art on my great big pregnant belly.
I vote for the herbal bath.
Plus, if you throw in some lavendar, it smells a HECK of a lot better than rubbing alcohol!
I had a similar experience with alcohol. I think both took 3 weeks or more to fall off.
I don't recommend anything at all, but baths or ok. I don't think babies need baths, but I don't think it's harmful, as long as the cord is kept dry all other times.
Most cords in my practice are gone by the one week, often by the fifth day.
Did the women of old have alcohol? :) I think, too, that if the cord is left intact until the placenta delivers, there is less blood and therefore, less to dry up in the long run. :)
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