Talk to me about Jaundice

My DS had jaundice and was treated by phototherapy for 2 days. I'm not sure of his exact 'numbers' (whatever that means) but apparently he was borderline whether he needed the phototherapy or not. One of the midwives commented that if he had 'numbers' like that in a public hospital it's unlikely he would have had phototherapy - we would have just used frequent feeding and sunlight to get through it.

I'm keen to avoid the phototherapy this time. I found it quite distressing, it meant bubs wasn't with me overnight and I'm sure it contributed to my low breastfeeding supply as we were separated in those initial days.

I'm studying up on information for the impending arrival of my second. I'm likely to be induced at 37 weeks if my blood pressure can wait that long.

Is it likely that my second son will also have jaundice? I'm after information on these 'numbers', what are my treatment options for jaundice and how I can feed my way through jaundice rather than phototherapy.

All information and experiences welcome!

Cheers,
Fiona

Both my beautiful kids suffered jaundice. Its stressful, isn't it?

My daughter was under the lights for 4 days.

When my son was born, I started noticing that he was turning a tad yellow. So asked them to do the blood tests, he too was borderline, but they thought best to put him under (this is public too, btw). His levels continued to rise, and ended up being under the lights for 3 days. The doctors and nurses in the SCN were really interested to hear about my daughters jaundice, from their interest - I assume it isn't really that common, to have both babies with the same problem??? So they started to look into my daughters files, and compared them with my sons, just to see if there was an underlying cause.

Turned out, the reasonings for both of their jaundice wasn't linked, just "one of those things". I can't remember what they said about my daughter, but I know they said my son had a high red blood cell count, which a new born liver struggles to process in the first few days.

Also, for what its worth. I exclusively BF my daughter for 8 months, followed by BF and FF until 12 months. And exclusively BF my son for 14 months.

Good luck with it all, hope you don't have to have that added stress.

:hug:

Both my DD's were jaundice with DD1 under lights for about 5 days. Her levels were very high and they were talking of transfering her to a larger hospital but fortunately they came down the day she was to be transfered.

When DD2 was born she also had jaundice but we were told to put her in front of a window where the sun came through for about 10 minutes a couple times a day.
Thankfully the weather was warm enough to do this for both but it would be harder in winter.

I B/F both girls and never feed them overnight while in hospital

If the jaundice level is low then yes feeding and sunlight will be enough. The problem with the substance that causes jaundice, bilirubin, is once it gets a certain level, it starts to cause lethargy and with that, poor feeding. The poor feeding can cause dehydration which can then cause those levels to rise again. The danger with jaundice is if the bilirubin level gets very high it can cause a specific type of brain damage. But don't worry these days it's very very rare and jaundice will be noticed before it gets to this level. As to the numbers required for phototherapy, there are no hard and fast numbers. It depends on the gestation of the baby, weight, age in hours, and pediatrician opinion.. It might be worth if your bub needs phototherapy, to ask if it can be done in your room.

DD1 had borderline jaundice but DD2 was fine. We just had feeding and sunlight to treat DD1 and this was in a private hospital. So to answer you - my second didn't have the problem but then the first was borderline anyway.

I remember reading there was some connection between the use of oxytocin in inductions and an increased risk of jaundice in babies but you would have to do some research into why that is. For me I was induced with oxytocin with DS and he ended up under lights with jaundice for 3 days where as I had a spontaneous labour with DD and she didn't get it, but they were different babies so who knows if there was a connection there.

Some of the risk factors are prematurity ( so a birth at 37wks will probably mean an increased chance of jaundice), some type of bruising ( ie from vacuum birth or forceps), or a problem between mum and bub's blood groups, called ABO incompatibility.
Even though the numbers were borderline, you can't assume it wouldn't have gone up without phototherapy so don't feel too bad, it may have been 'nipped in the bud' and stopped your bubby from going under lights for longer.
Theres no predicting whether your next baby wil have jaundice unless the initial one was caused by ABO incompatibility and the next baby has the same bloodtype. There is every chance this next baby will be fine.
The numbers are the level of serum bilirubin ( called SBR), there is a graph ( hospital will have it ) which plots levels and treatment, depending on age, gestation and weight of the baby.
Frequent BF in the early days will ensure your baby is well hydrated and passing meconium early ( which can help with jaundice), if your next baby does need phototherapy, try expressing between feeds to have a supply of EBM and help maintain your supply.
Good luck hopefully you won't have this problem!
ps not 100% sure on this but i think putting babies in sunlight isn't recommended anymore due to risk of sundamage and I also think its been proven not to work, but don't quote me on this please

All three of mine had jaundice, dd1 was a premmie my waters broke at 34 weeks, she was under the lights for 2 days, it took her a few months to fully recover, she was fed every four hours as she was sleepy for quite a while.

Dd2 was born at 37 weeks, and was borderline but didn't go under the lights. She was much more alert and fed on demand.

Ds was 39+4 and had to go under the lights for 2 days as well. He was much quicker to recover than the girls.

With Ds I was tested for blood incompatibility as he had a low grade fever but it came back clear.

Thanks all. Your experiences give me some perspective on how to approach the issue should it arise this time.


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DS also developed jaundice. It got close to their cutoff, but he was able to avoid going under lights. Because it was day 2/3 and my milk hadn't come through the paed strongly recommended that he had formula (40mls every 3 hours from memory) to flush out his system and to put him under the window for the UV. I was really apprehensive about giving him formula (after everything I'd read here) but agreed to. The jaundice cleared up enough for us to go home when we were meant to, so it worked out in the end. Also, despite him having the formula for a couple of days in hospital, I was able to establish a good supply and we went on to breast feed until he was 21 months (without any top ups after the first week). HTH