Patient's question:
The baby is now four days old and has developed jaundice. It looks quite yellow, so we took her to the hospital for a check-up. The test results showed that the levels were above normal, so now she is undergoing blue light treatment. Could you please explain why newborns can have high jaundice levels?Doctor's answer:
Newborn jaundice is normal. Under normal circumstances, the jaundice index of a newborn does not exceed 12.9 mg/dL. As long as it does not exceed 15 milligrams, it is basically physiological jaundice. Physiological jaundice can resolve on its own. Moms don't need to worry too much. If the baby's jaundice index is high, you can expose the baby to blue light, or drink more water and breast milk daily, let the baby sunbathe, to promote the baby's marigold flower to excrete bilirubin from the body. As long as the baby's jaundice value has subsided after 7 days, it is basically fine.