On Belly Buttons, Umbilical Cords, and Severing That Tether

Image: Science Photo Library

Nearly all mammals have belly buttons (with the exception of marsupials and monotremes). “Even whales?” my seven year old asked from the back seat after a long line of belly button questions.

Image: WhaleSharkDive. Whale belly button.

Yes, even whales.

It's weird how pregnancy blooms. So many people can't wait for that belly bump to pop. It doesn't pop for everyone, but when it does, some people panic; some celebrate it. Belly buttons in particular are so interesting to me because of their connection in the womb.  The funiculus umbilicalis was our original cord that tethered us to our own mother Earth.

You are literally the entire planet to your baby in there.

Babies in the womb are like astronauts- both are in a protective, isolated environment, floating in a world of their own. Just as an astronaut relies on life support systems, the baby relies on their mother for those same systems.

Think of an astronaut on a spacewalk, tethered to the spaceship with that critical lifeline.

Image: NASA. Astronaut Ed White on the first ever spacewalk.

Astronaut baby with cord & placenta tether.

The umbilical cord connects from the belly button to the placenta to give your baby the nourishment and oxygen needed for development. 

A belly button is technically a scar. As such, each one is unique. As a doula, I’ve seen many a belly button. The outies are somewhat uncommon with one about only 10% of people possessing an outie. The shape your belly button takes on happens in the first two weeks after birth when the rest of the umbilical cord dries up and falls off. Some parents keep this as a keepsake!

No pressure or anything- that’s definitely not for everybody. I do have a vague memory of a past client telling me she kept her baby’s foreskin. Well, at least, she tried too. She had put it in her pocket in a napkin after a bis at home and had gone to Whole Foods to pick up a few items. She told me when she later found her pocket empty that she still thinks about that little foreskin on the floor in the fruits and veggies department. The florescent lighting shining down on that lonely piece of flesh, swept up by some high school kid without a clue what his dust pan held.

ANYWAY,

Care for the baby’s belly button while waiting for it to fall off

After the cord is clamped, cut, and trimmed, what’s left is called the ‘umbilical stump,’ which I like because it makes me think of its connection to the Tree of Life, the placenta.

Keep your baby’s umbilical stump dry. My advice is to fold the diaper beneath the belly button line, so it is outside of the diaper. If any fluid is coming out of it, pat it dry. If you’re a lucky one, you’ll encounter your first ‘blow out’ within the first two weeks, which is when your baby poops up their back and sometimes up their stomach. Diaper overflow. If this happens, be sure to clean the stump to help prevent infections. You can use a washcloth with soap and water to clean the dirty part of the cord. Pat it dry with a clean cloth and keep the stump exposed to air to dry completely.

Do not attempt to help the stump fall off any faster than its ready to. Some people find this whole process pretty icky, but just try to swallow that down and focus on those cute baby cheeks.

I would stick to sponge baths until the stump completely falls off. If you’re ever worried that the stump doesn’t look quite right, please reach out to your pediatrician.

Do not clean it with rubbing alcohol. That’s an 80s/90s move- we know better now, so we do better. (says the 80s baby whose early Christmas photos have that smoke haze from the all the indoor smoking).

Speaking of 90s moms, when you are naval gazing, see it as a reminder of your connection to your own mother. I hope that it is a happy reminder of your early bond, though I know not everyone has an easy relationship with their mothers.

I don’t have many mementos from that time period. My house burned down right after my second Christmas. That’s right- my Barbie Safari set went up in flames. RIP. Everyone else was safe.

But as I watched my belly expand and my innie almost become an outie, it gave me a new appreciation for the things my mother carried for me and my four siblings. She literally carried us for 45 months total in her life. That’s a long time to be pregnant.

There are maybe two pictures of her pregnant with me and no first baby on the chest photo (I don’t think I really even went right on her chest; I’m sure they cleaned me up and brought me over bundled up in those hospital blankets we all recognize and we never shared that skin to skin that we all know now is so important and special). So, what I’m saying is, Take The Belly Pictures! Take allllll the pictures! And make sure you get that skin to skin immediately!

Not many moms take many pictures of their belly immediately postpartum. I remember it feeling so oddly empty and loose, but still puffed up. I don’t think I noticed what my belly button was doing those first few days. Now, it’s much the same as it was before, but I view that little belly button scar as a reminder of what my mom went through to bring me here. A spot on our body with the imprint of our in-utero life that marks us forever.

 We were all once connected to another human through our belly buttons. And at some point in time,  all humans had that cord severed. 

Image: Live Science. Baby’s cord has been cut and this is a picture before it’s trimmed.

For your baby,  will your partner cut the cord? Mothers can cut the cord as well! Hey, this doula would be honored to do it too! Be prepared- it’s chewy.

Image: Cafe Mom. Mother about to cut the cord after giving birth.

Doctors are happy to do it, and if you see no sentimental value in it, or you just are not so into cutting through human porous connective tissue, don’t feel obligated to do it!

If you do decide to do so, I highly recommend taking pictures or video. After my car birth, we were too preoccupied with everything to think of taking a photo. When I got up out of the car with my baby on my chest, cord and placenta still inside me, I walked into the ambulance. The EMT offered to cut it for me, but I told him my husband would do it at the hospital. Our 19 month old toddler was in the car with us, so he followed the ambulance singing “Twinkle Twinlkle Little Star” to her the way whole. He was excited the cut the cord of the baby he caught!

Image: Salt City Birth. Surrogate dads cut the cord together.

Image: Paulina Splechta

Someday this whole experience will only be a memory. Capture it in pictures while you can! Pregnancy is so temporal, so fleeting. It’s a time of growth (literally), anticipation, and connection that you’ll want to hold onto forever.