Jaundice in a newborn: the culprit and how to repel

Jaundice is a common problem, and it usually goes away after a few days. Depending on the cause of jaundice, your doctor will have different treatment options.

Newborn jaundice is not uncommon. When infected, the infant develops jaundice in the body area and sclera (the white). However, this phenomenon usually disappears after 1-2 weeks, but in some cases it lasts longer, signaling dangerous liver diseases.

Causes of jaundice in babies

Human blood contains bilirubin. The baby's skin looks yellow due to the high concentration of the pigment bilirubin in the blood. Bilirubin is one of the byproducts created when red blood cells rupture.

Normally, the liver removes the bilirubin from the blood, which is then passed out through the toilet (the yellow color of our stools is caused by the bacteria that oxidize bilirubin).

During pregnancy, the mother's liver removes bilirubin from the fetus. After birth, it takes a while for the baby's liver to start working. As a result, this pigment accumulates in the baby's bloodstream and causes jaundice.

This condition, called physiological jaundice, usually appears 2 or 3 days after birth and usually goes away on its own within 2 weeks. In preterm babies , neonatal jaundice can appear between days 5 and 7 and it can take up to 2 months to disappear.

Signs of babies with jaundice

Some signs that the baby has jaundice are:

Gold palms or soles of the feet

Dark yellow urine (a baby's urine should be colorless)

Light colored stools ( infant stools are usually yellow or orange)

Symptoms of neonatal jaundice usually develop 2 to 3 days after birth and tend to get better without treatment by about 2 weeks of age.

Is jaundice in babies dangerous?

In the majority of cases, jaundice in babies is not a condition that parents need to worry about. However, if the baby's bilirubin level is too high, jaundice can cause permanent damage to the baby's nervous system. This syndrome, called kernicterus, can cause deafness, developmental delay or paralysis. However, the percentage of infants with kernicterus is not high.

What is the risk of jaundice in babies?

Babies are more likely to experience jaundice if:

There is a sibling with jaundice

Have bruising at birth (red blood cells, part of the bruise is broken down and bilirubin is produced as a by-product)

Have certain genetic disorders ( Gilbert 's syndrome, congenital red blood cell membrane defects, hereditary blood galactose metabolic disorder)

There are diseases such as cystic fibrosis or hypothyroidism .

Jaundice in a newborn baby during the first 24 hours can also result from serious conditions such as liver disease, gallbladder, bowel disorder, infection, trauma at birth or 28 weeks premature birth . Rh and ABO type incompatibility can also cause jaundice from day one.

Can jaundice in a newborn happen when a mother is breastfeeding her baby?

The  breastfeeding mother  does not cause jaundice, but jaundice is more likely to occur in infants breastfed. Insufficient fluid in the body causes the concentration of bilirubin in the blood to increase. Therefore, if the mother does not have enough milk to breastfeed, the baby will likely have jaundice. Formula-fed babies also experience jaundice if they don't get enough milk.

If you think your baby is not getting enough breast milk, discuss this with your doctor. Once you improve your  breastfeeding  position, add more  breast milk or formula  , your baby will get enough breast milk and jaundice should disappear. You should breastfeed at least 8-12 times a day for the first few days.

Some babies experience " jaundice from breast milk " at 7-11 days of age. Your baby can still suckle well and gain weight normally, but something in breast milk affects the baby's liver's ability to metabolize bilirubin.

This usually happens with physiological jaundice and it can continue for weeks or even months after that.

Breast milk jaundice is very common in exclusively breastfed babies, but it's not dangerous. If your baby's bilirubin levels are too high, you should stop breastfeeding for 1 or 2 days for the condition to subside. You can use a breast pump to maintain milk supply during this time and once your bilirubin level drops, you can start breastfeeding again.

Laboratory and diagnosis for newborn jaundice

After the baby is born, the doctor will check the baby for jaundice by looking into the baby's eyes 3 to 5 days after birth, when the bilirubin level becomes highest.

If there are any concerns about a baby being jaundiced, your doctor may do a skin test or a blood test to check the bilirubin levels. The screening will definitely be done if the baby develops jaundice within the first 24 hours as the jaundice that appears at that time is more likely to indicate a serious problem.

However, if you leave the hospital immediately after birth, jaundice can occur at home, only you will be the first to know if your baby has jaundice.

So, you should master how to check whether your baby has jaundice or not by the following ways:

Bring your baby into a room with plenty of natural light or under fluorescent lights

If your child has fair skin, gently press the finger against the forehead, nose or chest and look for yellow color on the skin after releasing the finger

If your child has dark skin, look for yellow color on the gums or the whites of the eyes.

When should you bring your baby to the doctor?

If your baby's skin, especially the white part of the baby's eyes, abdomen, or arms or legs, is dark yellow, take him to the doctor. Parents should also call a doctor if their child has signs of difficulty waking up, fussy, does not want to eat or even mild jaundice that lasts for more than 3 weeks.

How to cure jaundice in babies

Most babies with newborn jaundice will recover on their own, but when it comes to treatment, phototherapy is the simplest, safest and most effective method up to now.

But if jaundice becomes severe or your baby's bilirubin levels continue to rise despite the positive light, he or she needs to be placed in special care for a blood change. This blood replacement will replace a high bilirubin baby  blood with a normal bilirubin donated blood.

Another thing you can do on your own to help reduce jaundice is to make sure your baby gets enough breastmilk or formula to pass stool more often, helping to clear the bilirubin out faster.

If you have any concerns about your baby being jaundiced, talk to your doctor to make sure you are taking the right steps to get your baby pink again.