Postnatal timing of spontaneous umbilical cord separation.

A population of 293 consecutive healthy term newborns were enrolled in this study to determine the time of their umbilical cord separation while using our current nursery protocol with isopropyl alcohol as a method of cord care. Cord separation occurred from days 3 to 42, with a mean of 10.9 days. This was considerably shorter than previously reported studies in the United States, but still longer than reported data from the Netherlands and developing countries. In this study there were no significant differences noted when comparing the mode of delivery, sex, or race of infant, with respect to time interval for their cord separation.