Why does my newborn’s umbilical cord look like this?

Are you wondering about whether or not you should make contact with the local cord blood bank?

The notion of cord blood banking has seen an higher acceptance in the past ten years. Right now people are thinking about whether they can bank their infant’s cord blood. In the past, the umbilical cord used to be thrown away after the child was actually born, however with developing awareness of how useful the blood of the umbilical cord is, the doctors have now started to store the blood of the umbilical cord in cord blood banks.

After a whole lot of doctors research has been conducted on what can be done with the umbilical cord researchers have found that it is actually helpful to store the umbilical cord in a cord blood bank. The blood of the umbilical cord is incredibly helpful in treating different diseases related to the immune system and also other blood related disorders which people suffer from. Till the mid 1990s the umbilical blood was never stored in a cord blood bank; But after the mid 1990s Scientists have started to appreciate the importance of umbilical blood and are now circulating knowledge of the importance of storing umbilical blood in a cord blood bank.

The growing importance of the Cord blood bank

The most basic reason why people are now researching using a cord blood bank is due to the fact that the umbilical blood is considered to be so precious. This is since it consists of high amount of hematopoietic stem cells and can be stored in the cord blood banks safely for years. The importance of having a high quantity of hematopoietic stem cells is that this precise type of blood is capable of generating new white blood cells and red blood cells. The science behind the use of cord blood is similar to that of bone marrow transplants which have been in practice for many years. However unlike the bone marrow which has to be matched perfectly, the utilization of the umbilical blood does not need such a perfect match.

There are many higher chances of treating an ailment with the use of umbilical blood than there are with the bone marrow transplants since the odds of someones body rejecting the umbilical blood are much less in comparison to his chances of rejecting the bone marrow.

The continued stem cell research shows that there are more or less 70 diseases that can be cured with the use of the umbilical cord blood. It is for this reason that more people are now starting to squirrel away their baby’s umbilical cord blood in a local cord blood bank. The cord blood is not only useful to the child whose umbilical cord blood is stored, but this blood can also be useful to various family members of the children as well. The use of umbilical blood is of high importance because research proves that the use of the umbilical blood could help in curing cancer, damaged internal organs and even blood disorders, which is one of the foremost reasons why a whole lot of people are starting to avail yourself of a cord blood bank service.

Those of you who wish to have your baby’s umbilical blood stored really should try to choose a cord blood bank well before the arrival of your infant due to the fact that not every hospital is equipped collect and convey the umbilical blood to the cord blood bank. So you would need to pick the cord blood bank and let your dr know more or less 2 months in advance so that you can rationalize the progression of paperwork and preparation for the collection and storage of your baby’s umbilical cord blood to the cord blood bank.

Yuri H asked:


My newborn is 10 days old and just this morning I noticed that the base of her yet to fall off umbilical cord looks like a blood blister. The surrounding area is not red/inflamed and it does not look infected (no pus). What could be causing this?? Just a few days ago it looked like it was getting ready to fall off, I called her pediatrician and I can’t be seen until Monday morning…any input would help calm my nerves!

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Comments on Why does my newborn’s umbilical cord look like this?

December 5, 2009

kelly09620 @ 11:26 pm #

ha, new mother worries (we all go through it)

If it isnt pussing then I wouldnt worry about it. If you told your doctor about it and they didnt fit you right in or refer you to the ER, they probably arent worrying about it- so you shouldnt. Keep an eye on it over the weekend, if you notice puss or an excess amount of blood go to the ER. otherwise just follow up with the doc on monday.

CONGRATS AND RELAX…if you freak out over everything…youll be a mess all the time.

December 6, 2009

rainbowj @ 12:05 am #

Is your baby crying for pain? If there is, then maybe you should get to the emergency treatment fast, else perhaps you want to wait for a little longer for your paed.

December 7, 2009

nil8_360 @ 9:59 pm #

No fever, no puss, no heat,… no infection. If that changes over the weekend, go to the emergency room.

December 10, 2009

Krafteekid @ 6:42 am #

Its okay, if it doesnt look infected. It may just be because her stump got pinched somewhere. If it begins to look infected(swollen, red, pus, ect.) then take her to an urgent care center. If not it may just go away.

Good luck!