After surgery, your baby will receive care in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. Your baby will be placed in a special bed called an isolette. This bed has an incubator to keep your baby warm.

Your baby may need to be on a breathing machine until organ swelling has decreased and the size of their belly area has increased.

Other treatments your baby will probably need after surgery are:

• Antibiotics
• Fluids and nutrients are given through a vein
• Oxygen
• Pain medicines as needed
• An NG tube placed through the nose into the stomach to drain the stomach to keep it empty

Feedings are started through the NG tube as soon as your baby’s bowel starts functioning after surgery. Feedings by mouth will start very slowly. Your baby may eat slowly and may need feeding therapy and a lot of encouragement.

The total length of time in the hospital will vary. It will depend on whether there are other birth defects and complications. You may be able to take your baby home once they are taking all foods by mouth and gaining weight.

After you go home, your child may develop a bowel obstruction (a block in the intestines) due to a kink or scar in the intestines.

Most of the time, surgery can correct omphalocele. How well your baby does depends on how much damage or loss of intestine there was, and whether your child has other birth defects.