Abstract
Background: The basic principle of umbilical cord (UC) care is to keep it clean and dry, as this provides the fastest and safest UC healing.Objective: To evaluate Slovenian UC care practice and compare its consistency with current international recommendations.Methods: A questionnaire covering UC care from birth to complete healing of the umbilical wound was sent to all Slovenian primary-, secondary- and tertiary-level pediatric centers. Three different clinical conditions of the newborn’s umbilicus were defined: healthy umbilicus (HU), umbilicus at risk (UR) and unhealthy umbilicus (UU).Results: The study revealed a correlation between the clinical condition of the umbilicus, the frequency of UC care and the antiseptic usage in both the outpatient and inpatient UC care groups. HU was treated less frequently than UR and significantly less than UU. In both groups, these two conditions were also indications for UC care with antiseptic. The frequency of antiseptic usage for HU care was significantly lower in the outpatient care group.Conclusions: Slovenian UC care follows the general international recommendations. Based on these and our experience, we formulated recommendations for adjustments to UC care, depending on the clinical condition of the umbilicus, in order to prevent important complications.
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