Umbilical Cord Care and Infection Rates in Turkey

The impact of umbilical cord care education given to Primiparous mothers on cord separation time: A randomized controlled study

PURPOSE

This study aims to determine the impact of umbilical cord care education given to primiparous mothers on cord separation time.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This randomized controlled trial was conducted according to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines. The mothers constituting the research sample were divided into two groups, the control group and the education group, and cord care and cord separation times were measured.

RESULTS

The mean age of the mothers was 28.72 ± 4.86 years (min. 20 years, max. 40 years). There was no difference in age, gestational week of the baby, birth weight of the baby, gender of the baby and mode of delivery of the mother between the mothers in the control and education groups. While the cord separation time was 10.97 ± 0.320 days in the babies in the control group, it was 6.60 ± 0.177 days in the babies in the education group. A statistically significant difference was found between the duration of cord separation of the babies in the control and education groups.

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that giving umbilical cord care education to primiparous mothers reduces umbilical cord separation time.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

It is recommended that pediatric nurses provide education on umbilical cord care and the goals and methods of application of care practices, especially to primiparous mothers.

CLINICAL REGISTRATION

This study was registered at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Clinical Trials (code: NCT05573737).

Bathing or Not Bathing: Which Is Better for Umbilical Cord Separation Time and Bacterial Colonization in Neonates?

Background: Sepsis is the third cause of death in the first month of life, and the umbilical cord is an important source for sepsis Objectives: We compared the effects of bathing or not bathing on bacterial colonization and cord separation time. Methods: A quasi-experimental study assessed term newborns at Golestan hospital, Tehran, Iran, from 2019 to 2020 in three groups. Bath (B) group included neonates who were bathed with tub water every two days (n = 90). Clean product (CP) group neonates were bathed with cleaners every two days (n = 87). Dry care cord (D) group neonates were not bathed during the first 10 days (n = 63). Periumbilical cord swabs were collected on the 10th day and cultured in blood agar and Eosin methylene blue agar. Bacterial sensitivity tests were done by disk diffusion. Results: The average time to cord separation was 8.2 ± 1.74 days (group B: 9.1 ± 2.1 days, group CP: 8.7 ± 1.82 days, group D: 6.8 ± 1.3 days), which was shorter in group D (P= 0.048). The positive culture rates were 77.8% in group B, 78.1% in group CP, and 74.6% in group D, which were not significantly different between the groups (P = 0.073). Staphylococcus aureus was the most common isolated species. Staphylococcus epidermis and Escherichia coli were the other most common species. Conclusions: Bathing with or without cleaners is safe. No-bath and water bath with or without cleaners had no difference in the rate and type of bacterial culture in umbilical cord but the cord separation time was shorter in the no-bath group. Therefore, in the first week, if a mother does not believe in bathing her baby, she should not be denounced and told that she did something wrong with cord hygiene.