umbilical hernia

J

jennymc

Registered User
My 2-month old daughter has been diagnosed with umbilical hernia. Due to the rapid increase of the hernia's size, she may have to undergo surgery,which I am dreading. Will appreciate any experience anyone could share about this situation (or the surgery).
 
My daughter had umbilical hernia around the same age as your daughter. I don't know how serious your daughter's hernia is but this was what happened in my case. At the time we were living in UK. We were referred to a hsp paed when she was 4mths old. Her hernia grew to about 1 inch. The paed said at her age she was too young to be operated due to the anaestic (spelling?) but would review her in a couple of mths time. By that time my daughter's hernia "went away" when she started to sit up. According to my health visitor and paed, hernia would disappear by the age of 2. As long the hernia is soft and can be pushed in then it's not a concern.
 
Thank you very much for your reply and for sharing. The hernia is now about 5cm, so we are very concerned. We have consulted our other pediatrician today and we are told not to do anything. He said that it could go to as much as 10cm and still won't require a surgery. Nevertheless, we are also checking the Queen Mary Hospital Pediatrics Surgery Clinic for the final opinion.
 
Don't worry - if it's a umbilical hernia, it will disappear in time! Obviously there could be some exception (eg. babies with Down syndrome, or hypothyroidism...), but for normal babies, surgery almost never indicated!
 
Hi Cranky,

Thank you for taking time to write. We have been reassured by another pediatrician and the pediatric surgeon we consulted that the hernia will subside in due time (at least, within a year). We have also done our own research and we don't worry as much as we used to. We also noticed that the swelling seems to be getting smaller.
 
Hi there

The same happened to one of my twins when she was newborn. However like what the other parents say, we were told it would go away by itself within a year or so but if it was still there when she was 2, then they might consider surgery. Like in 80% of cases, the hernia subsided by itself when she was around 6 months old and now her belly button is fine. The hernia is caused by a gap in her muscles so that her intestines bulge out but so long as the area is soft and the intestines can go in and out freely, then there is nothing to be concerned about. THe gap will usually close itself thus causing the hernia to go away.
 
Thank you very much to all who have written and kindly shared your thoughts and experiences. I am very pleased to let you know that my daughter's hernia is now about 1cm from the scary huge 5cm swelling. So hopefully, it will be completely gone in few weeks.
 
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