What should I do if I have a bulging umbilicus?

  Exomphalos (or omphalocele) is a congenital abdominal wall defect that is rare (about 1 in 5000 births). It is more frequent in boys. The liver, as well as the intestines, are simply covered by a transparent membrane. This N malformation can be screened for by prenatal ultrasound. An early 34-week ultrasound is easier to see than a 39-week ultrasound, because at 39 weeks the baby’s arms and legs are held in front of the belly, obscuring the view.  1. Should the pregnancy continue?  The important decision facing parents is whether or not to continue the pregnancy? This is not only a medical question, but also an ethical one. The survival rate of a child ranges from 70% to 95%. The most important factors affecting the survival rate are the presence of congenital heart disease (7-47%) and chromosomal variants (up to 20%), including many syndromes.  Common ones include Beckwith Widemann syndrome, in which the child has large internal organs and tongue, and quite large birth weight, more than four kilograms is also common, with low blood sugar just after birth. Without these syndromes and congenital heart disease, the baby’s survival rate is close to 95 percent. Other disorders include neurological (up to 30%) and cryptorchidism (up to 15%).  2. Treatment options: Treatment after birth depends entirely on the size of the umbilical bulge. The so-called size is not only the part of the bulge, but more importantly, whether the abdominal cavity can accommodate these internal organs.  (1) Small umbilical bulge: it can be retracted in one stage to close the abdominal wall defect.  (2) Giant umbilical bulge: most doctors will choose conservative treatment to avoid rupture of the umbilical bulge’s cytomembrane and allow it to epithelialize. Rupture of the cytomelanotic membrane should be avoided as much as possible. To reduce infection, some sterile ointment needs to be applied daily. Wait until the child is a few months or even a year old to close the umbilical bulge after the skin slowly grows to the lesser cell membrane.  (3) Moderate umbilical bulge: The option is to temporarily protect the viscera with a silicone patch cover, retract the viscera into the abdominal cavity in a week or so, and then suture the abdominal wall. You can also choose to cover the viscera with skin first and then add the abdominal muscle layer to cover the viscera when the baby is older (around one year old).