Physiological jaundice in newborns

Physiological jaundice of the newborn – adaptation of the infant to extrauterine life. She appears on the second or third day of life and is not considered a pathology. It occurs in almost 70% of infants. Young mothers should know what are the laws of current physiological jaundice when she needs to go and in some cases treatment is required.

Children the color of the sun

Why is the baby turns yellow? Don’t worry, this is normal. In the baby’s blood sharply elevated levels of bilirubin – a pigment substance that is formed from destroyed cells hemoglobin.

Fetal hemoglobin is different from extrauterine. A child is born, begins to breathe, increase heart rate, and fetal (fetal) haemoglobin can not cope with the load and collapses. In the released substance is contained inside of a red, yellow bilirubin. In the liver using specific enzymes bilirubin neytralizuya, excreted via the bile duct into the intestine. If the chain of this process there are violations, the level of bilirubin is high and yellow pigments stain the skin.

Elevated levels of bilirubin have all newborns, but generic jaundice is not subject to all. About 70% of healthy full-term infants on the second or third day “dyed” yellow. This so-called physiological (natural) jaundice. If by the third week the baby’s jaundice is not gone, so for some reason, neutralization of toxic bilirubin is not over.

The first signs of physiologic jaundice appear first on the face then on the trunk, extremities, conjunctiva and mucous membranes. They appear through one or two days from the moment of birth, growing about 4 days and gradually fade by the tenth day of life.

Jaundice in newborns, which lasts more than 20 days are also the norm. Simply happens so, that the baby’s liver enzymes slowly doing their job. In this case, the advice of a pediatrician still required. If the level of bilirubin above normal levels, but not increased, under expert supervision this is nothing serious the kid is not threatened.

Prolonged duration

The diagnosis of “prolonged physiological jaundice, severity or moderate” with a maximum concentration of bilirubin 170 -180 mmol/l put babies:

• full-term after 2 weeks;
• prematurity after 3 weeks.

After discharge, the recommended treatment:

• phototherapy;
• breastfeeding;
• medical correction (rare).

Bilirubin levels significantly above normal in premature infants or during the first 3 days after birth may cause the following conditional threat reasons:

• neurotoxic syndrome (brain damage);
• viral or bacterial infection;
• congenital malformations of the liver and biliary tract diseases, cholestasis;
• unspecified (those born in the female population, oxytocin stimulation of labor activity, hereditary factors, especially the composition of breast milk);
• hypothyroidism (reduced thyroid function);
• immunological conflict with its mother.

If jaundice in newborns for 3 weeks does not disappear, you should contact the pediatrician. He tests and tests to determine what stage of neutralization of toxic bilirubin fails, and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Treat jaundice as a symptom and the disease.

In neonatology the main method of treatment is phototherapy. Under the influence of directional beams face on the baby, the bilirubin breaks down and is excreted with urine and feces. The child undress, put on the eyes and genitals of the bandage and in a special box perform the procedure. When is jaundice and the bilirubin decrease rate vodolechenie complete.

For sustainable prevention jaundice doctors recommend:

• breastfeeding (optimal feeding time – 10 minutes);
• if the baby refuses the breast, it is still not to quit breast-feeding, Express milk and to Supplement from the spoon;
• air and sun baths.

By following these rules, a mother will experience neonatal jaundice without experiences. But we should remember that if yellowness of the skin and sclera seems the mother is stable, better to be safe and to consult with the child’s doctor.