Babies are born with a generous supply of red blood cells, which help transport oxygen. Over time, these red blood cells break down, forming bilirubin in the process.
Bilirubin is normally transported to the liver, where it's processed before being eliminated from the body. But newborns initially have more bilirubin than their livers can handle, and the excess causes their skin and, sometimes, the whites of their eyes to turn yellow. This type of jaundice, called physiologic jaundice, typically appears on the second or third day of life.
Although any newborn can develop physiologic jaundice, it occurs more often, and is sometimes more severe, in premature babies because their livers are even less developed than are those of full-term infants.
Sometimes a baby may develop jaundice for other reasons. If jaundice is present at birth or appears within 24 hours, it may be the result of:
- Severe bruising
- An infection in your baby's blood (sepsis)
- An incompatibility between your blood and your baby's
Jaundice that develops in or lasts past the second week of life may be due to:
- A liver malfunction
- A severe infection
- An enzyme deficiency
- An abnormality of your baby's red blood cells
Risk factors
Boys tend to be at higher risk of infant jaundice than are girls. Asian and American Indian infants also are more likely to have jaundice. Other factors that may put your newborn at risk of jaundice include:
- Premature birth. Because your premature baby may not be able to process bilirubin as quickly as full-term babies do, he or she is at higher risk of jaundice. Your preemie may also feed less at first and have fewer bowel movements, which means less bilirubin is likely to be eliminated in your baby's stool.
- Bruising during birth. Sometimes babies are bruised during the delivery process. If your newborn has a bruise, he or she may have a higher level of bilirubin from the breakdown of more red blood cells.
- Blood type. If your blood type is different from your baby's, your baby may have received antibodies through the placenta that cause his or her blood cells to break down more quickly.
Blood groups are determined according to whether you have certain protein molecules on the surface of your blood cells. The rhesus (Rh) factor is one of these blood groups. If you have the Rh factor in your blood cells, you're considered Rh positive. If you don't, you're Rh negative. There's nothing inherently wrong with being either Rh positive or Rh negative. But problems can arise when an Rh-negative woman is pregnant with an Rh-positive baby.
During pregnancy, fetal cells cross the placental barrier and mix with the mother's cells. If the mother's immune system detects the baby's opposing Rh factor, it produces antibodies against it. These antibodies then enter the baby's circulation through the placenta and umbilical cord and attach to the baby's red blood cells, causing them to break apart and release bilirubin.
To minimize the likelihood of problems, Rh-negative women receive injections of Rho (D) immune globulin (RhoGAM), which prevents the mother's body from producing unwanted antibodies during the pregnancy and immediately following birth. - Breast-feeding. Breast-fed babies have a higher risk of jaundice, but for most newborns the risk is slight and is far outweighed by the benefits of breast-feeding. In addition, if a mother's milk is slow to let down, her baby may not gain weight as readily, which makes jaundice more pronounced. A slow start to breast-feeding may also lead to some dehydration in the baby, which may raise the bilirubin level.
Breast-feeding more than the daily usual of eight to 10 times, which will encourage your baby to have more bowel movements, might reduce the risk. Breast-milk-related jaundice normally appears four to seven days after birth and may last for several weeks.
letting the cord pulsate leads to jaundice???
Reply With Quote
Creator of 
Bookmarks