Two recent studies conducted, in Pakistan and Bangladesh, have revealed that the chances of a baby succumbing to death could be reduced by thoroughly cleansing the umbilical cord during and after baby’s birth.

The findings of the study have been published in the journal Lancet. It has further been found that the cleansing of umbilical cord can reduce the chances of baby being affected with omphalitis, an infection which occurs in the umbilical cord.

One of the studies was carried out by Professor Zulfiqar A Bhutta from the Aga Khan University. Professor Zulfiqar A Bhutta, for the success of the study, observed the consequences of cleansing umbilical cord with chlorhexidine (CHX) solution. The study was carried out in the rural regions of Sindh province of Pakistan.

As a part of the study, the umbilical cords of 9,700 babies were cleansed with 4% CHX solution at the time of birth. Their umbilical cord was cleansed again for about 14 days, at their parents’ home. It was found that the cleansing of the umbilical cord helped in reducing omphalitis cases by 42% and also reduced the mortality rate by 38%.

It is estimated that as many as 3 million infants succumb to death because of infection of umbilical cord. The second study was conducted by Shams El Arifeen of Bangladesh. Shams El Arifeen is a member of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research. He has also emphasized over the need of cleaning the umbilical cord soon after the birth of the child and after taking the baby home.

According to Shams El Arifeen, the umbilical cord of the baby should be cleansed for at least one week after his birth. It is hoped that the findings of the studies would help in saving infants from succumbing to death.