I have 5 children and only 1 of them has escaped the hospital without “the lights” used to treat jaundice. Jaundice is not a big deal in terms of the health of your baby, but it does need to be treated and it could send you home without your baby for a few nights.
What is It?
Jaundice is what causes the yellow tinged skin and yellow eyeballs in newborns. Newborns get it because they have more red blood cells than they need. As the liver tries to break them down it produces a yellow pigment called biliruben. Because the baby’s system is not mature enough to get rid of the extra pigment quickly, the body deposit’s the pigment into the skin and eyeballs of the newborn.
Generally, jaundice is physiologic–meaning it is a normal body process. Once the liver is able to break down the biliruben, the jaundice usually goes away and it doesn’t cause the baby any harm at all.
Occasionally, jaundice is the result of incompatible blood types between the baby and mother. Although it is rare, it is possible that biliruben levels can rise high enough to damage the baby’s brain. For this reason, if your doctor suspects that there is another reason for the jaundice, he may prescribe phototherapy (putting the baby under lights) which helps break down the biliruben so that it can be secreted through the urine.
How is it Treated?
As long as the biliruben level is below 20ml, you don’t have to do anything. Still, it is likely that your health care provider may recommend the following actions:
* increase feedings, especially if you’re breastfeeding; biliruben is passed through the urine and miconium. The more you feed, the more the baby passes biliruben!
* phototherapy lights will dissolve biliruben. I have also heard of putting the baby in a sunny window as the sunshine has the same effect. (None of my children had the good fortune of being born in the summer.)
Can I Still Breastfeed?
Having a baby under lights can sabotage the breastfeeding process however, hospitals can make reasonable concessions. Work with your health care provider to ensure that you have unrestricted access to your baby and that you can feed him when he is hungry. (They may also ask you to feed on a schedule of every two hours. Jaundice tends to make babies sleepy and so it may be that you have to wake your baby up to feed him.)
In short, jaundice is more of a nuisance than a serious problem. Have your babies ever gotten stuck in the hospital with jaundice after you went home?
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