These stories are based on information gathered from health professionals and consumers. They may be helpful as you make important health decisions.

Jeannette, age 27: My baby was born with an umbilical hernia that really wasn't too noticeable most of the time. My doctor suggested waiting to see if it would go away on its own—and it did. By the time Ross was 9 months of age, the hernia was gone. I'm glad we didn't try surgery on such a little baby. I would have felt terrible putting him through that when it just went away on its own.

Loni, age 33: Sierra, my little girl, developed a large umbilical hernia around her first birthday. It was really horrible to look at and scared her sometimes. Plus, she'd fiddle with it and scratch it in her sleep. We waited a little while to see if it would get better, but before her second birthday, we decided to have it surgically repaired. It was really hard to do it, but I'm glad we did. She looks perfect and we don't have to worry about it anymore.

Paco, age 41: My son, Johnny, had an umbilical hernia that we noticed shortly after his umbilical cord stump fell off. It was disconcerting to see it, but we decided that if the doctor wasn't too worried about it yet, we wouldn't be either. It didn't change much over the next 2 years, but then finally went away. Since it didn't bother any of us very much, it wasn't hard to try the "wait and see" approach.

Dustin, age 22: My daughter was born with really big bulging skin around her belly button. It was awful-looking. It scared me to even touch it. My wife and I decided there was no way we could wait 4 to 5 years to see if it would go away. Once she got a little bigger and stronger, we asked if she could have surgery. She had it and looks great now. I'm glad that's over and she looks like a normal baby again.