Jaundice

I had never heard of Jaundice in my life until the day before I gave birth. The lady who was in the bed next to me had just given birth and I was waiting for the induction tablet to take effect when I heard her on phone talking to her family, she said that her baby had Jaundice and so she would be spending an extra night at the hospital as the baby needed more examination. I had no idea then that it was a skin condition and there is no way I was going to pull the curtain to have a peek on her baby.

So after I left hospital, I went online to check what this Jaundice was, well here is what I found out. I need to add that a friend also got a baby who was diagnosed with Jaundice and so it might be good for mothers to learn about it before baby is born. In fact it is one of the most common conditions that can affect newborn babies. It is estimated that 6 out of every 10 babies will develop jaundice, including 8 out of 10 babies born prematurely.

What is Jaundice?

Infant jaundice is a yellow discoloration in a newborn baby’s skin and eyes. Infant jaundice occurs because the baby’s blood contains an excess of bilirubin, a yellow-colored pigment of red blood cells. It usually occurs because a baby’s liver isn’t mature enough to get rid of bilirubin in the bloodstream. In some cases, an underlying disease may cause jaundice.

You’ll usually notice jaundice first in your baby’s face. If the condition progresses, you may notice the yellow color in his or her eyes, chest, abdomen, arms and legs.

How to check

The best way to check for infant jaundice is to press your finger gently on your baby’s forehead or nose. If the skin looks yellow where you pressed, it’s likely your baby has jaundice. If your baby doesn’t have jaundice, the skin color should simply look slightly lighter than its normal color for a moment.

Causes

The main cause of jaundice is:

Excess bilirubin (hyperbilirubinemia). The liver of a newborn is immature and often can’t remove bilirubin quickly enough, causing an excess of bilirubin. Jaundice due to these normal newborn conditions is called physiologic jaundice, and it typically appears on the second or third day of life.

other causes

A baby may have an underlying disorder that is causing jaundice. In these cases, jaundice often appears much earlier or much later than physiologic jaundice. Diseases or conditions that can cause jaundice include:

• Internal bleeding (hemorrhage)
• An infection in your baby’s blood (sepsis)
• Other viral or bacterial infections
• An incompatibility between the mother’s blood and the baby’s blood
• A liver malfunction
• An enzyme deficiency
• An abnormality of your baby’s red blood cells

NB

If your baby develops jaundice that seems to be from breast milk, your doctor may ask you to temporarily stop breastfeeding. During this time, you can pump your breasts so you can keep producing breast milk and you can start nursing again once the condition has cleared.

Treatment

Treatment of infant jaundice often isn’t necessary, and most cases that need treatment respond well to noninvasive therapy. Although complications are rare, severe infant jaundice or poorly treated jaundice can cause brain damage.

It’s best to examine your baby in good lighting conditions, preferably in natural daylight.

When to see a doc

The following signs or symptoms may indicate severe jaundice or complications from jaundice. Call your doctor if:

• Your baby’s skin becomes more yellow
• Your baby’s skin looks yellow on the abdomen, arms or legs
• The whites of your baby’s eyes look yellow
• Your baby seems listless, sick or difficult to wake
• Your baby isn’t gaining weight or is feeding poorly
• Your baby makes high-pitched cries
• Your baby develops any other signs or symptoms that concern you
• Diagnosed jaundice lasts more than three weeks

Major risk factors for jaundice, particularly severe jaundice that can cause complications, include:

• Premature birth. A premature baby may not be able to process bilirubin as quickly as full-term babies do. Also, he or she may feed less and have fewer bowel movements. These conditions result in less bilirubin eliminated in your baby’s stool.
• Bruising during birth. Sometimes babies are bruised during the delivery process. If your newborn has bruises, he or she may have a higher level of bilirubin from the breakdown of more red blood cells.
• Blood type. If your blood type is different from your baby’s, your baby may have received antibodies from you through your placenta that cause his or her blood cells to break down more quickly.
• Breast-feeding. Breast-fed babies have a higher risk of jaundice, particularly those who are having difficulty nursing or not getting enough nutrition from breast-feeding. Dehydration and low intake of calories from poor breast-feeding may contribute to the onset of jaundice.

Prevention

• The best prevention of infant jaundice is adequate feeding. Breast-fed infants should have eight to 12 feedings a day for the first several days of life. Formula-fed infants usually should have 1 to 2 ounces (about 30 to 60 milliliters) of formula every two to three hours for the first week.
• Phototherapy (light therapy) is the most common medical treatment for jaundice in newborns. In most cases, phototherapy is the only treatment required. Treatment with phototherapy is successful for almost all infants.
• Phototherapy is usually done in the hospital, but in select cases, it can be done in the home if the baby is healthy and at low risk of complications.
• Exposure to sunlight, the early morning sun or late evening, that provides vitamin D, be very careful though so that baby does not get sunburn.

Additional facts:

http://kidshealth.org/

http://www.uptodate.com/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/

http://www.nhs.uk/