This article will review the definition of jaundice and symptoms when it comes to newborn babies. When your baby is born, it can be a scary thing when your doctor starts using words like “jaundice” to describe your baby, even if they follow it with words like “common”. I am hopefully going to explain the definition of jaundice in a non-scary way.

Definition of Jaundice

Bilrubin is a waste product that comes from your body’s red blood cells when they are old and destroyed by your body. Bilrubin is the chemical that is left in your body after iron is removed from your blood. When you have too much bilrubin in your body, your skin and whites of the eyes appear yellow in color. They call the yellow staining of your skin “jaundice”.

Why does Jaundice occur?

Your liver is responsible for filtering out waste in your blood and jaundice occurs when there is too much bilrubin in your body for your liver to filter out. The reason jaundice is so common in babies is because in the first few days of being born, a baby’s body will rapidly start replacing fetal Hemoglobin (the chemical in blood that carries oxygen) with adult Hemoglobin. At the same time, your baby’s liver is immature and can’t keep up with all of the bilrubin being put into the blood from the Hemoglobin replacement. This increases the level of bilrubin in your baby’s body and causes jaundice.

Diagnosis of Jaundice

If you notice your baby’s skin is yellow, you should call the doctor right away. Although jaundice is very common in newborns, it should be treated as high levels of bilrubin can be dangerous. Your doctor can do a blood test to test the levels of bilrubin your baby’s blood.

Treatment of Jaundice

If bilrubin levels are low enough, no treatment is necessary. Sometimes your doctor will simply tell you to feed more often to help get the bilrubin levels lower. You may want to track your baby’s diapers to make sure he has enough wet and dirty diapers. It is usually unnecessary to supplement with water or anything else if levels are low enough and it is usually unnecessary to stop breastfeeding for a day or two.

If bilrubin levels are too high, your doctor may use special phototherapy lights or special blankets to help break down the bilrubin. Work with your doctor on this as it can be dangerous for your baby to have too high of levels in her blood.

Jaundice will usually pass within a week of your baby’s life, two at the most, in the majority of cases.

Sources and more reading:
MedicineNet.com
Dr. Sears – Breastfeeding a Newborn With Jaundice