Therapy

Also in the case of an umbilical hernia during or after pregnancy, treatment can be done in different ways: First, one waits for some time after delivery. Due to the reduced pressure in the abdominal cavity, many umbilical hernias regress spontaneously and do not require any therapy. A symptomless umbilical hernia, however, which either occurs after pregnancy or does not disappear after birth, is always an indication for surgical reduction, but is usually only performed after the birth of the child.

Theoretically, it is possible to manually push the hernial sac through the hernial orifice back into the abdominal cavity and treat the umbilical hernia in this way. However, in everyday practice, this therapeutic option is difficult. On the one hand, the hernial sac can become trapped in the area of the hernial orifice during manual reduction and thus provoke incarceration.

On the other hand, the cause of the umbilical hernia, namely the actual weak point in the abdominal wall, is not remedied in this way. The umbilical hernia would pass through the abdominal wall again at the latest with the next pressing or strong coughing. During pregnancy, even the pressure caused by the unborn child is sufficient to provoke a renewed prolapse of the hernia sac.

After pregnancy, there are two treatment options to choose from:

In most cases, women who do not complain of any symptoms, do not need any therapy at all. An umbilical hernia, which occurs during pregnancy, often recedes of its own accord after the pressure in the abdominal cavity has decreased. This means that most umbilical hernias simply disappear again after pregnancy without any medical intervention being necessary.
In the rare case that a therapy has to be carried out during pregnancy due to pain, the procedure is carried out as gently as possible in order not to harm either the mother or the unborn child – this means that an invasive intervention is avoided at first and only carried out in an extreme emergency.
In both cases there is the possibility to have the umbilical hernia taped by experienced midwives or physiotherapists.
Kinesiotapes can be used to stabilize the abdominal wall muscles by means of certain adhesive techniques, which prevents the intestinal loops from coming out. However, this therapy option should always be clarified with the treating gynecologist first!
In case of small defects in the abdominal wall (up to about 2 cm in diameter), the weak spot can usually be repaired with a simple suture. With this method, the surgical access (skin incision) is kept so small that hardly visible scars remain afterwards.
In case of larger weak points in the abdominal wall or in case of repeated occurrence of an umbilical hernia, the abdominal wall should be additionally strengthened. Plastic nets or patches are usually used for this purpose. This material is very well tolerated by most patients and can remain in the body for life.