Many babies encounter neonatal jaundice in those few days after birth in the hospital, and some new mothers have not yet experienced the joy of being a first-time mother and start to worry and worry about their babies, not knowing what to do! Today we will take you to learn more about neonatal jaundice.
A. What is neonatal jaundice
Neonatal jaundice is a condition characterized by abnormal bilirubin metabolism during the neonatal period, causing an increase in the level of bilirubin in the blood and jaundice of the skin, mucous membranes and sclera, with physiological and pathological jaundice.
In most cases, physiological jaundice is not a cause for concern. However, for pathological jaundice, if the baby’s bilirubin level is too high and continues to increase, it can develop into nuclear jaundice (also called bilirubin encephalopathy), leading to deafness, developmental delay or cerebral palsy, and even death.
Second, the jaundice caused by several causes
1, excessive destruction of red blood cells
Bilirubin is a metabolic product of the destruction of red blood cells, indirect jaundice is due to the destruction of too many red blood cells, so that the body bilirubin is too high. Because babies do not need too many red blood cells in their bodies, too many red blood cells are destroyed, resulting in high bilirubin, which can move freely in and out of the brain and is more likely to cause damage once the brain is immature, has its own congenital disease or is born prematurely.
2.Incomplete development of liver bile duct
Direct type of bilirubin is mainly a problem of the liver biliary tract, the liver function of newborns is not fully developed, bilirubin excreted by the liver, metabolism is not enough to also cause jaundice. If the baby has problems with liver function due to infection, or congenital abnormalities of the liver or biliary tract can also cause jaundice to rise.
3. Hemolytic problems
Jaundice can also be caused by antibodies passed from the placenta to the baby during the mother’s pregnancy, which can cause hemolytic problems (incompatibility between the mother’s blood type and the baby’s blood type). Most mothers with blood type O are more likely to have babies with blood type A or B because the mother has anti-A and anti-B antibodies in her body, but experts stress that this does not mean that children born to mothers with blood type O will necessarily have problems.
The child with nematodes is due to a lack of red blood cell enzymes, which can easily be destroyed in certain states and cause hemolysis, or babies with poorly constructed congenital blood cells themselves may also cause hemolytic jaundice. Of course, it is also possible that all three reasons are present, which needs to be judged by the doctor.
4.Breastfeeding
All other causes of jaundice must be excluded before breast milk can cause jaundice. As the first week of jaundice, it may be due to dehydration caused by insufficient feeding, but there are no reports of brain lesions due to breast milk jaundice in the literature so far. Jaundice produced by breast milk will disappear completely in about 1 to 3 months.
How can I tell if my baby has jaundice?
Fourth, how to care for physiological jaundice
1.Drink plain water
Every morning and evening, you can feed your baby plain water so that he or she can urinate and get rid of the jaundice in the body. If the baby is drinking formula, water should be added between meals.
2. Drink glucose
If you find that your newborn has a high jaundice level, you can give your baby some glucose water by adding glucose to the water and feeding it to your baby.
3.Sunbathing
Every morning around 10:00 am, when the sun is not very strong, you can give your baby sunshine, as much as possible to the child’s skin, but to protect the baby’s eyes from the sun. In addition, also pay attention to the baby to do a good job of warmth, do not blow the wind due to the sun and get cold.
4.Stop breast milk
The above methods do not work, and the bilirubin index exceeds 20mg/dL, then you should stop breastfeeding for 2-3 days and switch to infant formula to assist. If the jaundice improves within 48 hours then re-feed breast milk.
V. How to treat pathological jaundice
Most of the above physiological jaundice does not require treatment. If pathological jaundice requires treatment, light therapy is considered to be a very safe and effective method.
This is done by having the baby undressed and lying in a crib (eyes need to be shielded) and placed under a blue fluorescent light. This method usually relieves jaundice because the UV light converts the bilirubin into something that is more easily excreted through the baby’s urine.
Another treatment option is to wrap your baby in a fiber optic blanket (blanket jaundice treatment device). The main treatment for neonatal jaundice is blue light irradiation, which is very safe. Some babies may have side effects such as rash and diarrhea, which disappear when the irradiation is stopped. Take care to protect the eyes when irradiating.
Light therapy is usually very effective, but if the jaundice is severe, or if the bilirubin level continues to rise after light therapy, the baby will need blood exchange therapy.
Conclusion: Pay attention to the child’s spirit and also to the feeding situation. If a child with breast milk jaundice or physiological jaundice is not affected by feeding, sleeping, urinating or defecating, the situation is fine. In pathological jaundice, if the child’s mental state is not particularly good, for example, if the child is staring in one direction and shrieking or twitching, it is important to seek medical attention promptly.