How many days does it take for the umbilical cord of a newborn to fall off?

Generally, the baby's umbilical cord will gradually turn black and harden and fall off in 1 to 2 weeks. If the baby's umbilical cord has not fallen off after 2 weeks, you should observe the condition of the umbilical cord carefully. As long as there are no signs of infection, such as no redness, swelling or pus, and no large amount of fluid oozing from the umbilical cord, there is no need to worry. In addition, you can use 75% medical alcohol to wipe the baby's navel to keep the umbilical cord stump dry, accelerate the shedding of the umbilical cord stump and the healing of the navel.

The umbilical cord (Latin: Funiculus umbilicalis) is a structure in the body of almost all mammals (including humans) that connects the fetus to the pregnant mother's placenta. The umbilical cord is shaped like a rope, with a smooth and transparent surface, and contains connective tissue and blood vessels. In the placenta, the fetus's blood circulation exchanges nutrients and oxygen with the mother's blood circulation, and the nutrients and oxygen reach the body of the growing fetus through the umbilical cord. The normal human umbilical cord contains three blood vessels: two umbilical arteries (Plural Arteriae umbilicales) and one umbilical vein (Vena umbilicalis). Two arteries carry blood rich in carbon dioxide and low in nutrients to the placenta, and veins carry blood rich in oxygen and nutrients back to the fetus. The other vein regresses during the first week of fetal development. The only blood vessels that carry venous blood through arteries and arterial blood through veins, besides the pulmonary artery/vein, are the umbilical artery/vein.

Umbilical cord blood has such a good use, it can be preserved. Umbilical cord blood can now be stored in a cord blood hematopoietic stem cell bank. In the umbilical cord blood bank, umbilical cord blood undergoes multiple medical processes such as testing, separation, and preparation, and is frozen in deep-temperature liquid nitrogen at -196 degrees Celsius and can be preserved for a long time. The full name of the umbilical cord blood bank is “umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell bank”. It is a special medical institution dedicated to extracting and preserving hematopoietic stem cells from umbilical cord blood and providing consultation for patients. It is also known as the Cord Blood Bank (CORDBLOODBANK) or Life Bank (LIFEBANK) internationally. It includes public libraries and self libraries. It can be said that the umbilical cord is unique to us mammals, so not only are babies born with umbilical cords, but some other mammals are also born with umbilical cords. When the baby is in the mother's womb, it relies on the umbilical cord to transport nutrients.