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Jaundice has a high occurence rate of 3 in 5 infants. Identifying jaundice early helps to manage bilirubin levels. Instead of relaying on one's naked eye, a proper neonatal Transcutaneous Bilirubin(TCB) assessment by professionals is pain free and can eaily prevent future jaundice complication.

Jaundice can cause problems for some babies, including:

• Preterm babies born before 37 weeks’ gestation;

• Babies who weigh less than 2500 g at birth;

• Babies whose blood group is incompatible with their mothers’ blood group;

• Babies who develop jaundice early in life, especially during the first 24 h;

• Babies whose jaundice has moved into the arms and legs;

• Babies who have an infection;

• Babies who have bruises and a difficult delivery (for example, where forceps have to be used); and

• Babies whose siblings had jaundice at birth and needed treatment.

Call us immediately if your baby shows any of the following symptoms:

• Refuses breastfeeding or bottle feeding;

• Is sleepy all the time;

• Has lost a significant amount of weight (more than 10% of her weight at birth); or

• Is extremely jaundiced (arms and legs are a yellow or orange colour, whites of baby's eyes look yellow)

It is multi-factorial, due to increased bilirubin production, red blood cell volume, short survival of the red blood cells, ineffective uptake of bilirubin from blood , immature functioning of liver in excretion of the bile. This often appear 2-3 days after birth but resolves in the first 2 weeks of life.

The group of infants more prone to pathological jaundice includes:

1. a. Preterm/ low birth weight infants

2. b. G6PD Deficiency

3. c. Baby and mother ABO/ Rhesus incompatibility

4. d. Inadequate Breastfeeding

5. e. Infants of Diabetic mothers

6. f. Infants with polycythaemia and cephalohematoma

Breastfeeding jaundice occurs very early in the newborn's life due to poor milk intake, resulting in an exaggerated physiological response.

Breastmilk jaundice is a common type of newborn jaundice that may occur from 14 to 21 days. It is thought to be due to metabolites in breast milk that reduce the efficiency in the hepatic clearance of the bilirubin, and also increases the re-absorption of bilirubin from the hepato-intestinal tract.