What is the cause of jaundice in newborn babies?
Jaundice is caused by too much bilirubin in the blood. This is known as hyperbilirubinaemia. Bilirubin is a yellow substance produced when red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body, are broken down. The bilirubin travels in the bloodstream to the liver.
How do you prevent jaundice in newborns?
How can I prevent jaundice? Feeding (especially breastfeeding) your baby frequently in the first hours and days after his birth helps reduce the risk of jaundice. Feeding often will make your baby pass more stool. The milk also gives your baby’s liver the energy it needs to process the bilirubin.
How serious is jaundice in a newborn?
Newborn jaundice is not harmful most of the time. For most babies, jaundice will get better without treatment within 1 to 2 weeks. A very high level of bilirubin can damage the brain. This is called kernicterus.
Can breastmilk cause jaundice?
Breast milk jaundice is a type of jaundice that occurs in neonates due to breastfeeding. It happens within the first week of life due to the abnormal accumulation of bilirubin, causing a yellowish discoloration to the neonate’s skin known as jaundice.
How do you cure jaundice in newborns?
Mild infant jaundice often disappears on its own within two or three weeks….Treatments to lower the level of bilirubin in your baby’s blood may include:
- Enhanced nutrition.
- Light therapy (phototherapy).
- Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg).
- Exchange transfusion.
Does phototherapy cure jaundice?
Phototherapy is treatment with a special type of light (not sunlight). It’s sometimes used to treat newborn jaundice by lowering the bilirubin levels in your baby’s blood through a process called photo-oxidation. Photo-oxidation adds oxygen to the bilirubin so it dissolves easily in water.
What is infant jaundice and how is it treated?
Enhanced nutrition. To prevent weight loss,your doctor may recommend more-frequent feeding or supplementation to ensure that your baby receives adequate nutrition.
Can jaundice kill a baby?
In adults, jaundice can be a result of a life-threatening condition that may need to be evaluated, whereas, in infants, it is often a benign condition that improves without much side effects. However, in some cases, jaundice can cause brain damage and even death in infants.
Why are some babies born with jaundice?
Infant jaundice occurs because the baby’s blood contains an excess of bilirubin (bil-ih-ROO-bin), a yellow pigment of red blood cells. Infant jaundice is a common condition, particularly in babies born before 38 weeks’ gestation (preterm babies) and some breast-fed babies.
What does it mean if your baby is jaundice?
Newborn jaundice, also called infant jaundice, is when a newborn’s blood contains excessive amounts of bilirubin. Usually this happens because a newborn’s liver is not mature enough to process the bilirubin efficiently. Symptoms of newborn jaundice include yellowing of the skin and eyes on your baby.