Congenital afibrinogenemia in a new born: a rare cause for bleeding

Bleeding in the neonates may be a result of thrombocytopenia, sepsis or vitamin K deficiency. Congenital bleeding disorders are a rare cause of bleeding. The umbilical cord bleed is an important clue to underlying bleeding disorders especially factor XIII deficiency and afibrinogenemia. In some laboratories, the routine workup for the bleeding neonate may not always include fibrinogen assays, which may then delay this diagnosis. We report a case of congenital afibrinogenemia in a neonate who presented with umbilical stump bleeding for its rarity and to re-emphasize the need for including fibrinogen assays while assessing a bleeding neonate.