Does cutting the umbilical cord hurt?

When a woman is pregnant, she usually passes nutrition to the baby through the umbilical cord. After ten months of pregnancy, the umbilical cord needs to be cut during childbirth. When the umbilical cord falls off, the baby usually needs to be well cared for to avoid infection. The umbilical cord area needs to be kept dry and disinfected every day. However, most people are curious about whether it hurts the baby when the umbilical cord is cut.

Does it hurt to cut the umbilical cord?

The baby will not feel pain when the umbilical cord is cut. Pain is transmitted to the brain by pain nerves. The brain receives the pain signal and then sends out a series of instructions to complete the pain transmission process. The baby's umbilical cord is mainly composed of connective tissue, two umbilical arteries and one umbilical vein. Although there are nerves distributed on it, most of them are autonomic nerves. These nerves are not sensitive to pain. Therefore, cutting the umbilical cord for the baby is like cutting our hair or nails. There will be no pain.

Principles of Umbilical Cord Care

The time when the umbilical cord falls off will vary depending on the baby's situation. It usually falls off 1 to 2 weeks after birth.

1. Keep the baby's umbilical cord dry before it falls off. Especially if the base of the umbilical cord is accidentally wetted during bathing, it should be wiped clean with a clean cotton swab before performing umbilical cord care.

2. To avoid friction, the diaper should be of appropriate size. Never let the waist of the diaper just at the base of the umbilical cord. This will easily cause friction to the base of the umbilical cord when the baby moves, causing skin breakage, redness, and even bleeding.

3. To avoid stuffiness, some mothers apply creams, lotions and oils to the base of the umbilical cord for their babies to prevent the umbilical cord from drying out and even causing infection.

4. Clothes must be clean. Newly bought clothes are bound to have pathogens attached to them, so they need to be cleaned before being used by the baby. The process of washing and drying is one way to prevent the baby from being infected.

During the process of the umbilical cord stump falling off, slight redness often appears on all sides of the umbilical cord. This is a normal phenomenon in the process of the umbilical cord stump falling off. Mothers do not need to worry too much. If there is purulent secretion in the umbilical fossa, the surrounding skin is red, swollen, and hot, and the baby has anorexia, vomiting, fever, or the body temperature does not rise (rectal temperature is lower than 35 degrees Celsius), the baby may have omphalitis. Mothers should take the baby to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment.