What is an umbilical hernia?

An umbilical hernia is a bulge near the belly button. Intestines or other tissues may bulge through an opening or a weak spot in the belly muscles. The hernia has a sac that may hold some intestine, fat, or fluid. It may look like your child's belly button is swollen.

Many children have an umbilical hernia at birth. The hernia usually does not cause any problems, and it often closes on its own without treatment.

What causes it?

The umbilical ring is a muscle that is around a newborn's belly button. It usually closes shortly after birth. If it doesn't close, tissue may bulge through the opening, creating a hernia.

What are the symptoms?

An umbilical hernia can usually be seen after the umbilical cord stump falls off, within a few weeks after birth. But some children don't get a hernia until they're a little older.

When a child has an umbilical hernia:

• You may notice a soft bulge under the skin of the belly button.
• The bulge may be easier to see when your child sits or stands upright or strains stomach muscles during normal activities such as crying, coughing, or having a bowel movement.
• The doctor may be able to push the bulge back in.

Umbilical hernias can vary in size from small to large. Most children don't feel pain from the hernia.

Talk to your doctor if your child is vomiting, has pain, or has a swollen belly.

How is it diagnosed?

Doctors usually can tell that a child has an umbilical hernia by how the belly looks. If your child has a hernia, your doctor will check its size and shape and see whether the hernia can be pushed back in.

The doctor will want to check your child regularly to see if the hernia has begun to close. Be sure to bring your child in for these checkups.

How is an umbilical hernia treated?

Umbilical hernias usually close on their own before a baby is 1 year old. If a hernia has not closed by the time your child is 4 or 5 years old, your child probably will need surgery to close it.

Surgery to repair the hernia usually is an outpatient procedure, which means that your child can go home the same day the surgery is done. Problems from umbilical hernia surgery are rare. Your child's doctor can tell you what to expect and what to watch for. Be sure to go to all follow-up exams so the doctor can make sure your child is healing well.

If your child has pain, a swollen belly, or other signs that a part of the intestine is trapped in the hernia (incarcerated hernia), surgery will be needed right away. This problem is very rare.