Jaundice is a common and usually harmless condition in infants and newborns that causes yellowing of both the skin and the whites of the eyes, and it often affects premature babies. In most cases, babies do not need treatment for jaundice especially since it rarely causes serious problems.

Symptoms

The skin of a kid with jaundice appears yellow. It starts on the face, then the chest, abdomen, and then the legs. The whites of the baby’s eyes also appear yellow. Babies with very high levels of bilirubin may be drowsy or have difficulty feeding.

• It may be difficult to see, especially in dark-skinned kids. If you are not sure, gently press the skin on your kid’s nose or forehead. When you lift your finger, the skin will appear yellow if you have jaundice. While in normal cases, the skin color is slightly lighter than its natural color for a moment.
• Yellowing of the hands’ or feet’s palms or soles
• Dark yellow urine, while newborn urine should be colorless
• Pale stool although it should be yellow or orange

Jaundice symptoms often appear two or three days after delivery and typically disappear without treatment by the time the infant is two weeks old. However, you should contact a doctor if your baby:

• Is not eating well
• Is sleeping more than usual
• Has worsening jaundice

Causes of jaundice

The main cause of jaundice is excessive bilirubin production. Babies produce more bilirubin than adults in their first few days of life. The liver eliminates bilirubin, but if it does not do so rapidly enough, the amount of bilirubin grows, resulting in physiological jaundice.

However, some diseases may cause jaundice. In these cases, it often develops earlier or later than does the physiological one. Many diseases and medical conditions may cause jaundice including:

• Internal bleeding
• Sepsis (infection in the blood)
• Other bacterial or viral infection
• Blood incompatibility between the mother’s and the baby’s blood
• Liver dysfunction
• Biliary obstruction, a condition in which a kid’s bile ducts are blocked or scarred
• Deficiency of enzymes
• An abnormality in the kid’s red blood cells, which causes their rapid breakdown

Risk factors

A baby is more likely to develop jaundice if they are:

• Born prematurely, since their capacity to remove bilirubin is decreased
• Not getting enough breast milk. This is especially common in the first few days of life when the mother is encouraged to increase the number of feedings.
• The child’s blood type was different from the mother’s.
• The mother’s Rh factor is negative, while the baby’s Rh factor is positive.
• The baby has a genetic problem that makes red blood cells more fragile.

Treatment for Jaundice

Jaundice usually does not require treatment because the symptoms resolve within 10 to 14 days, although they can last longer in certain cases. However, therapy is usually recommended if bilirubin levels in the blood are extremely high.

Primary therapies available in the hospital to quickly decrease your baby’s bilirubin levels include:

• Phototherapy is a special type of light that shines on the skin.
• Blood transfusion where the baby’s blood is transferred with blood from a matching donor.
• Fluids Because fluid loss (dehydration) leads to high levels of bilirubin.

Prevention

The best way to prevent jaundice is adequate nutrition. Breastfed infants should have eight to 12 feedings a day for the first few days of life. While Formula-fed infants should drink about 30 to 60 milliliters of formula every two to three hours for the first week.