Neonatal Umbilical cord care

ABSTRACT

To compare the effectiveness of various methods of umbilical cord care. Comparative study. From June 2004 to December 2004 at Hyderabad. Healthy full term, singleton new born with normal birth weight, whose cord was clamped with sterile plastic clips examined by author in the 1st 12 hours of life were included in the study. Four hundred newborns were included in the study. Four groups of 100 each were made according to the cord care provided, group A- cord care using only natural drying, group B - 70% alcohol application, group C - polymyxin-bacitracin ointment and group D - bacitracin-neomycin powder application. The babies treated with alcohol had earlier cord detachment with least bacterial colonization with no exudate or granuloma formation. 70% alcohol swab is a better choice for normal newborn umbilical care. The only drawback is it's cost and availability: