Jaundice is a yellow discoloration in a baby's eyes and skin. According to MayoClinic.com, infant jaundice is common in babies born before 36 weeks gestation but also occurs in otherwise healthy and full-term newborns. Jaundice primarily occurs when a baby's liver is not mature enough to get rid of excess bilirubin in the bloodstream.
Cause
Jaundice occurs when your baby's blood contains excess bilirubin, a condition called hyperbilirubinemia. Bilirubin is a normal part of waste when red blood cells are broken down. The liver filters bilirubin and releases it into the intestinal tract to be removed in the stool. A mother's liver usually removes bilirubin from the baby's blood before birth. Newborns livers are immature and sometimes cannot remove bilirubin quickly enough. Other causes of jaundice may be an underlying disorder such as internal bleeding, infection, liver malfunction, viral or bacterial infection, enzyme deficiency or abnormality of your baby's red blood cells. These disorders will cause jaundice to appear much earlier or much later than physiologic jaundice.
Symptoms
Baby jaundice symptoms include yellowing of the eyes and skin, and usually appear between the second and fourth day of life. Jaundice can be noticed in your baby's face, eyes, chest, abdomen, arms and legs. You can check for jaundice by pressing your finger softly on your baby's forehead and if the skin looks yellow in the area you pressed, your baby may have jaundice. Hospitals normally check babies for jaundice prior to discharging the baby. Your baby should also be checked for this condition between three and five days old, which is when bilirubin levels usually peak. Severe jaundice symptoms include an increase of yellow in your baby's skin, baby being difficult to wake or is feeding poorly, makes high-pitched cries or has jaundice for more than three weeks.
Risk Factors
Your baby is at a higher risk for jaundice if the baby is premature, has bruising during birth, if your blood type is different from your baby's blood type or if you are breast-feeding. Premature babies are not able to process bilirubin as quickly and have fewer bowel movements resulting in less bilirubin eliminated from the body. Bruising causes a breakdown of more red blood cells, resulting in higher bilirubin.
Complications
Severe jaundice may have serious complications to the brain if left untreated. Bilirubin passing to the brain is a condition called acute bilirubin encephalopathy. Signs of this condition include listlessness, poor feeding or sucking, high-pitched crying, fever and backward arching of the body and neck. Bilirubin may cause permanent damage to the brain called kernicterus. Kernicterus may result in uncontrolled or involuntary movement, hearing loss, permanent upward gaze or intellectual impairment.
Treatment
According to MayoClinic.com, mild jaundice disappears on its own within two or three weeks. Moderate or severe jaundice will require a longer stay in the hospital and treatment to lower the level of bilirubin in the blood. Treatment includes light therapy or intravenous immunoglobulin to reduce the levels of antibodies that contribute to the breakdown of blood cells in your baby. Rarely, a baby may need an exchange transfusion of blood.
Prevention
Prevention for baby jaundice includes adequate feedings. Infants who are breast-fed should have eight to 12 feedings per day for the first few days. Formula-fed infants need 1 to 2 oz. every two to three hours for the first week.
