Patient's question:
We are a newly married elderly couple with a young grandson. We are currently working as freelancers and have a lot of free time. We want to learn more about medical knowledge, but we haven't studied medicine before. However, we are very interested in it, so we want to ask everyone here, how long after birth should newborn jaundice be tested?Doctor's answer:
Newborn jaundice can be both physiological jaundice and pathological jaundice. It resolves on its own within a week. Physiological jaundice is a transient yellowing caused by bilirubin metabolism. It typically appears 2 to 3 days after birth, peaks between 4 to 6 days, and subsides by 7 to 10 days. Premature infants have a longer lifespan. In addition to mild loss of appetite, there are no other clinical symptoms. If jaundice occurs within 24 hours after birth, the daily increase in serum bilirubin exceeds 5 mg/dL per hour or 0.5 mg/dL per hour; it lasts longer. Full-term infants: 2 weeks. Premature infants: 4 weeks.