Understanding a newborn jaundice

During the first week of your baby’s life, his skin may take on a yellowishorange tinge. Think bad fake tan and you’ll get the picture. This condition, known as physiological jaundice of the newborn, affects about a third of all new babies. If your baby is Afro-Caribbean, south Asian, or Chinese, he may have just a yellowing of the whites of his eyes, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet.

Newborn jaundice is caused by an excess of a substance called bilirubin in the blood, a natural by-product of your baby’s red blood cells that is usually removed from the blood by the liver. Until your baby’s body adapts to life outside the womb, your baby may produce more bilirubin than he needs and more than his immature liver can handle. As his liver is not developed fully, the bilirubin tends to build up in the blood, causing that yellowish tinge. In most cases, newborn jaundice isn’t serious and resolves itself within about two weeks, but your doctor will need to monitor your baby until the jaundice clears up.

If the jaundice is severe, your baby may have to stay in hospital for a while. He may receive phototherapy treatment, which involves placing him on a kind of sunbed with bright fluorescent lights for short periods of time until his jaundice starts to fade. If you go home rather than stay in hospital, your midwife or health visitor will keep a close eye on your baby’s jaundice during home visits. As you care for your little yellow-tinged bundle of joy, keep the following points in mind:

_ Seek out the sun. Exposure to sunlight is very beneficial, because it helps your baby to break down bilirubin. At home, expose him to as much daylight as possible, preferably while he’s not wearing anything. Don’t put him in direct sunlight, however, because he could overheat or get sunburnt very quickly.

_ Feed on demand. This will make your baby wee more and thus excrete more waste products, helping to flush out his system. Breastmilk is a particularly powerful detoxifier.

In rare cases, bilirubin increases rapidly rather than reduces, suggesting that the jaundice is non-physiological. If your baby has sluggish reflexes and poor sucking, or the jaundice continues for more than two weeks, he may need treatment or further tests. Abnormally high levels of bilirubin need to be controlled in order to prevent a condition known as kernicterus, which can lead to brain damage if left untreated. Treatment of this kind of jaundice depends on the severity of the jaundice but may include phototherapy, drug therapy to cut down bilirubin production, and blood transfusion.