What is an infant jaundice?
Infant jaundice is yellow discoloration of a newborn baby's skin and eyes.
Infant jaundice occurs because the baby's blood contains an excess of bilirubin, 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.
Infant jaundice usually occurs because a baby's liver isn't mature enough to get rid of bilirubin in the bloodstream. In some babies, an underlying disease may cause infant jaundice.
Symptoms
Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes — the main sign of infant jaundice — usually appears between the second and fourth day after birth.
Examine your baby in good lighting conditions, preferably in natural daylight.
When to see a doctor
Most hospitals have a policy of examining babies for jaundice before discharge.
The following signs or symptoms may indicate severe jaundice or complications from excess bilirubin.
Call your doctor if:
- Your baby's skin becomes more yellow
- The skin on your baby's the abdomen, arms or legs looks yellow
- The whites of your baby's eyes look yellow
- Your baby seems listless or sick or is difficult to awaken
- Your baby isn't gaining weight or is feeding poorly
- Your baby makes high-pitched cries
- Your baby develops any other signs or symptoms that concern you
Causes
Excess bilirubin (hyperbilirubinemia) is the main cause of jaundice.
Bilirubin, which is responsible for the yellow color of jaundice, is a normal part of the pigment released from the breakdown of "used" red blood cells.
Normally, the liver filters bilirubin from the bloodstream and releases it into the intestinal tract. A newborn's immature liver often can't remove bilirubin quickly enough, causing an excess of bilirubin. Jaundice due to these normal newborn conditions is called physiologic jaundice, and it typically appears on the second or third day of life.
Other causes
An underlying disorder may cause infant jaundice. In these cases, jaundice often appears much earlier or much later than does the more common form of infant jaundice.
Diseases or conditions that can cause jaundice include:
- Internal bleeding (hemorrhage)
- An infection in your baby's blood (sepsis)
- Other viral or bacterial infections
- An incompatibility between the mother's blood and the baby's blood
- A liver malfunction
- Biliary atresia
- An enzyme deficiency
- An abnormality of your baby's red blood cells that causes them to break down rapidly
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infant-jaundice/symptoms-causes/syc-20373865
