My little one has a pinkish red rash type mark on the back of the neck. It’s not raised or anything, just a red mark on the nape. Its been there for some months now and right from the day he was born. Every few days I’d see it and think, I’ll ask the Pediatrician about it in our next visit. And, I promptly forget asking this as a number of other things happen during that short Pediatrician visit.
Then, when a Pediatrician I was around for a few days, didn’t give a good enough explanation of what this red rash was, I decided to seriously look it up. That red rash is called a ‘stork bite‘ (Naevus flammeus nuchae / Nevus simplex). They are also broadly known as Salmon patches.
Apparently, they’re the most common type of vascular (relating to blood; as opposed to pigmented) birthmark and occur in around one third to half of all babies and caused due to stretching of certain blood vessels (probably caused by maternal hormones).
The best way, though not fool proof, to know that it is a stork bite is to observe it when a child cries or the temperature changes, at which time, it becomes darker. When pressure is put, it fades.
Stork bites may occur on the forehead, eyelids / between eyes (angel’s kiss) or back of the neck (stork bite) at birth and most patches will fade completely within a few months. Patches on forehead can sometimes take a few years to disappear and some on the neck may not go away at all.
Here is a nice article to read more about all types of birth marks.
