Doctors Warning Against The Latest Newborn Trend Taking Off in NZ

There’s a new birth trend gaining popularity but doctors are warning that it may have serious health complications for babies.

Earlier this year, Courier Mail reported that new mothers were electing to bring their own knitted umbilical cord ties with them to hospital rather than using the sterile plastic ones supplied. 

(A cord clamp is used after the umbilical cord is cut at birth).

Mothers claimed they were more aesthetically pleasing as well as more comfortable for the baby.

However, doctors are warning us against it and the trend has now hit NZ.

Kiwi parents are now starting to use colourful knitted or crochet umbilical cord ties instead of medical clamps.

Here's an example of a DIY umbilical cord tie: 

Image via Etsy.

Australian medics have concerns about the potential for the non-sterile materials to cause infection, but a Kiwi midwife says the potential can be easily minimised.

Rotorua mother Ashleigh French used a tie on her fifth child, Jupiter Morris, who was born in July.

"I used hospital clamps in the past but then saw pictures of the ties on Facebook and thought they looked really cute so I decided to get one.

"It's just common sense to keep it outside the nappy and make sure it doesn't get wet or dirty."

French's family thought she was "pretty crazy" to use a tie.

"They didn't really get why I would bother with one, but it was really cute and it's a nice keepsake.

French opted for a rose, which is Jupiter's middle name.

Christchurch midwife Jacqui Anderson said she had seen more parents using fancy woollen ties in the past year.

Infection could be avoided if the tie was kept away from the abdomen, over the nappy.

"The cord needs to be a bit longer so the tie won't get wet or soiled and there's less potential for irritation.

"The base of the abdomen has to be monitored for infection but it's not that common. I've never had an experience with infection."

Anderson, who is also an adviser to the College of Midwives, said sterilised string has been used for a long time, and also muka, a flax fibre with anti-bacterial properties, "has been used by Maori families for centuries".

- NZ Herald