What is the cause of baby jaundice?
What is the cause of baby jaundice?
The yellow color of the baby is due to the accumulation of a fat-soluble pigment called bilirubin in the skin, which is toxic to the baby in high amounts and under different conditions. Jaundice usually starts from the baby’s head and face and spreads to the abdomen, chest and organs with the increase of bilirubin.
Physiological jaundice:
One of the common causes of newborn jaundice is physiological jaundice, which starts on the 2nd to 3rd day of birth and reaches its peak on the 7th day and returns to normal after 10 to 13 days. Frequent feeding of the baby reduces the level of bilirubin
Predisposing causes of infant jaundice:
- Maternal diabetes
- Premature infants
- Taking some drugs by the mother
- Delay in defecation
- History of jaundice in previous children
- Other underlying diseases
- Low nutrition, high ambient temperature, high coverage of the baby
Breast milk jaundice:
The treatment of premature type is frequent feeding with breast milk and not giving sugar water. It has two types, early and late.
Babies who receive a small amount of milk in the first days of birth may develop jaundice. In this case, in addition to going to the doctor to determine the level of bilirubin in the blood, frequent feeding with breast milk and avoiding giving sugar water is recommended.
Every baby with jaundice should be taken to the doctor to determine the blood bilirubin level.
Danger signs of baby jaundice:
- The onset of jaundice in the first 24 hours of birth
- Prolongation of jaundice for more than 2 weeks
- Baby pale
- Vomiting and drowsiness
- Severe weight loss
- Colorless stools
- Colored urine
- Failure of phototherapy treatment
