Pregnancy tips After Birth, Keep An Eye On Baby's Belly Button

I was surprised when I read the article below about some of the things new mothers should watch out for on a newborn's belly button. This article addresses some belly button dangers:


Danger from the Belly Button
The navel gives a fetus life, but can bring a newborn death.
by Mark Cohen (www.discovermagazine.com)

There is a little-known structure in the developing fetus called the urachus, which is a tube leading from the bladder to the umbilicus. The urachus is derived from a tubelike embryonic structure known as the allantois (Greek for “sausage”), which ­eventually forms the urethra, the urinary bladder, and part of the umbilical cord ­itself. By the time most babies are born, the urachus has collapsed down to a solid cord that connects the bladder with the back of the belly button and is useful only as a landmark for surgeons.


The telltale sign is swelling and redness of the skin around the cord, which often leaks pus. Suddenly, the baby begins to look sick. Those infants, like my patient years ago, can die.
In rare cases, however, part or all of the urachus remains open after a baby is born. When the entire tube is open, the baby will leak small amounts of urine from his belly button. Partial closure can lead to a urachal sinus, a small pocket that remains at the upper end of the urachus and still maintains its connection to the cord. Sometimes that structure can become infected. A simple infected urachal sinus is treated with oral antibiotics and removed surgically after the infection clears. I suspected that was what I was dealing with.