What is a cephalohematoma?

Cephalo (head) hematoma (blood clot) is a blood clot related to a difficult delivery of a baby. This can happen with NORMAL vaginal deliveries. This situation happens when some blood vessels under the skin tear or pop open, causing a “contained” blood clot.

We see hundreds of babies with cephalohematomas every year, in our office. 99% of the blood clots “dissipate” or go away with time, gentle massage and warm compresses. We monitor these babies over a few months.

CALCIFIED cephalohematomas are calcified clots, that did NOT go away. ONLY if they are very large, disfiguring, or if they cause severe torticollis, head turning, or other problems, do we ever consider surgery.

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