Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

It can be a little disconcerting when, the day after you’ve given birth, you take a peek at your beautiful little bundle and she looks a little…well…a little yellow. Even her teeny eyeballs are mustard-tinged. Two of my four children turned a bit yellow a day or so after they were born.

Now, at the time, I did know generally about the possibility of newborn jaundice but it was still a little weird to look at my little Irish babies, expecting to see Crayola peach-colored skin, and instead see Crayola goldenrod. Neither of my babies had a very serious case of jaundice, which is a yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes – just enough to keep an eye on. Both recovered nicely, within about a week, without any medical intervention.

It seems that my own little family statistics regarding newborn jaundice (50% of my kids had it) are typical. Doctors say that more than half of all full-term babies and as many as 80% of premature babies will develop jaundice during their first few days.

Jaundice usually occurs when a baby’s liver isn’t mature enough yet to metabolize bilirubin, which is produced by the body’s breakdown of worn out red blood cells. The bilirubin usually passes through the liver and is transferred into bile and urine. The yellow pigment which usually colors the baby’s pee comes through in the skin. What a lovely thought...

Jaundice generally appears on the second, third or fourth day of the baby’s life. If a baby is jaundiced earlier, she may have a blood infection or an incompatibility with the mother’s blood. If jaundice develops after the first week or lasts for longer than two weeks, the baby may actually have a severe infection, a liver malfunction or some blood abnormality. In either event, your doctor should address the problem.

Most jaundice will resolve on its own without specific treatment. You do want to keep an eye on it though and call your pediatrician if the baby’s skin is bright yellow (as opposed to yellow tinged), if the baby becomes listless and weak, if she isn’t nursing well or if she isn’t gaining weight.

The doctor will look for jaundice before your baby is discharged from the hospital and then again at your follow-up visit to the pediatrician’s office shortly after going home. This may involve a blood test or a light test on the baby’s skin. One of mine came pretty close to being kept at the hospital for further treatment – poor thing had his heel stuck for blood tests so many times it was black and blue. But his “bili” levels dropped just low enough at the last minute and he came home on time.

If the jaundice does not resolve and is not treated, extremely high levels of bilirubin can cause brain damage, deafness and developmental delays. Treatment can include phototherapy where your baby is placed under special UV lights (sometimes called “bili-lights” or a “bili-blanket”) which changes the bilirubin and allows it to be processed by her kidneys, IV antibody transfusion or IV blood transfusion (don’t freak out yet, mama - the IV stuff only happens in the most serious cases – usually the lights take care of the problem).

If the jaundice isn’t too severe, doctors often recommend increased feedings which, in turn, cause increased poops which help move the excess bilirubin out of the baby’s body. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? And, really? You’re pretty much going to be a feeding machine for the first few weeks anyway – so this generally works itself out.

Another home remedy for slight jaundice is to place the baby in the sunshine (through a closed window) for 10-15 minutes at a time, several times a day. The sunlight will help dissolve the bilirubin in the baby’s skin and allow it to pass through her urine. This is what we did with my daughter – even during a very cold Midwestern January. I stripped her to her diaper, wrapped her in blankets and let her lay in the sunshine coming through a south-facing window. She usually fell asleep just like a lazy kitten – giving me dozens of disgustingly cute pictures!

In most cases, your baby’s skin will return to its normal tone – whichever Crayola 64 color that should be (other than goldenrod) - within a few days. But you know your baby best – even if you’re a first-time mom. If you trust your instincts and communicate with your baby’s health care providers, all will likely be just fine.