Jaundice in Newborns, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT!
The medical term for this is Physiologic Jaundice which is frequently seen happening to newborns especially to those who have a premature birth. It is harmless and vanishes away as a child is 2 weeks older because liver then eventually develops and gets mature enough to eliminate the bilirubin from blood otherwise there are very rare cases in which level of bilirubin gets so high that it needs treatment else it is very common and less of a harm.
How you will be able to know that your little one is having jaundice?
SYMPTOMS:
1. Urine of a newborn baby is always colorless, if it is yellow then this is one of the symptoms of your baby having jaundice.
2. His soles of the feet will get yellowish as well as palms of hands. This is a sign that your baby is having severe jaundice.
These symptoms appear after 2 to 3 days, yellowish tinge in skin and eyes (sclera) of a baby is a first and foremost thing you will notice in your newborn.
TREATMENT:
It varies from condition to condition. From mild to moderate to severe.
MILD JAUNDICE.
No treatment is required, after few weeks liver itself will remove excessive bilirubin from red blood cells.
MODERATE JAUNDICE.
Usually it is treated by PHOTOTHERAPY, in which your baby is placed under blue lights in which a warm incubator and exposure to special lights will break bilirubins from your baby’s body.
SEVERE JAUNDICE. (Usually above 25 mg)
Primary treatment is phototherapy, In case it does not help then you need to treat him with BLOOD TRANSFUSION. It is a process in which blood of your baby is removed and replaced with the matching blood of donor.
If it is not treated in severe cases then it can also cause brain damage, deafness, cerebral palsy and kernicterus.
WHY NEWBORNS GET JAUNDICE:
1. Newborns make more bilirubin than adults.
2. Their Liver is still maturing.
3. Children born with excessive red blood cells, a disease called POLYCYTHEMIA often adopt jaundice.
4. A mother who has diabetes may cause Neonatal jaundice to your baby.
5. Babies on breastfeed attain jaundice in comparison to those on formula milk, it occurs because your baby does not get enough of breast milk from mother. This refers to Breastmilk Jaundice.
