Question

Just before going home, a new mother asks the nurse about the umbilical cord. The nurse would tell her:

1.
it should fall off by 10 to 14 days.
2.
at birth the cord is a bluish color.
3.
it contains two veins and one artery.
4.
skin will cover the area within 1 week.

Answer 1

The umbilical cord stub is expected to dry out and fall off within about three weeks, not by 10 to 14 days or within 1 week as sometimes thought. Initially, the cord may appear bluish and contains two arteries and one vein. It does not get covered by skin within 1 week.

Step-by-step explanation:

The umbilical cord of a newborn infant contains one umbilical vein and two umbilical arteries. After birth, the umbilical cord is promptly clamped and cut, leaving a stub. This stub will dry out, shrivel, and darken, eventually falling off within approximately three weeks to form the navel. The cord at birth can have a bluish color due to the presence of blood vessels filled with blood. The cord's vessel collapse is part of the natural occlusion process, facilitated by Wharton's jelly inside the cord which responds to the lower external temperature outside of the mother's body. Eventually, the vessels atrophy and become fibrotic remnants in the mature circulatory system. The skin covering the area where the stub falls off develops over time, but not typically within the first week.