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Most jaundice in newborn babies is normal and harmless, and likely to appear as a yellow pigment to their skin that looks similar to a bruise in the later stages of healing. It can also appear as a yellow tinge in the eyes and mucous membranes. It has a more likely chance of showing up in babies born prematurely.

In most cases jaundice will disappear in a few days and never reappear or have any consequences for the baby. It generally shows up first in the face and chest, and moves downward toward the toes.

The yellow pigment is caused by an over abundance of bilirubin, which is a by-product of old red blood cells. Normally everyone has some bilirubin in their bloodstream, but not enough for it to show on the skin. When your body manufactures too much bilirubin, it is stored in your tissues. This is when it becomes noticeable - think about the healing bruise again.

In a normal person, about one percent of our red blood cells are being replaced by new ones every day. The old red blood cells are taken to the liver, processed, and come out in our stool. Babies are more susceptible to jaundice because they have a very high red blood cell count. This increases the amount of bilirubin produced.

Jaundice may appear for many reasons such as:

• Baby's who are born with a liver that isn't as fully developed as it should be, and so is unable to process the bilirubin as fast as it should. This has nothing to do with liver disease, and just means that it will take longer for their bodies to deal with the excess bilirubin.
• Jaundice may also appear in baby's whose organs that deal with bilirubin have a defect. If this occurs, it is a much more serious matter, and your doctor will fill you in on any details.
• Pathologic Jaundice is the term given to describe a type of jaundice that pose a health risk. It can show up in baby's or adults and can be caused by things such as difficult delivery, premature birth, physiologic jaundice (term given to the type of jaundice that poses little or no health risk) exaggerated by dehydration, blood incompatibilities, blood diseases, infections, medications, genetic syndromes, hepatitis, cirrhosis, bile duct blockage and more.
• Gilberts Syndrome is another thing that can cause mild cases of jaundice. This is a heriditary condition which the liver has lower than ussual amounts of the enzymes that process bilirubin. Once this condition is diagnosed, no other treatment is needed.
• Breast milk jaundice occurs in about 1 of every 200 baby's. It is caused by substances in the mothers milk which decreases the livers ability to cope with the levels of bilirubin. This form is often harmless, and the mother may not even have to stop breatfeeding her baby.
• Breast feeding jaundice occurs in about 1 of every 10 breast fed babies. The cause could be that your baby isn't getting enough milk, and is slightly dehydrated, exaggerating the likely hood of getting jaundice.

If your baby is diagnosed with a type of jaundice that needs further treatment, here are the basics of what they do.

Doctors will generally use what is called phototherapy. Another name for it is a Bililight.

A Bililight is a set of fluorescent lights that are set over the baby's bed. Doctors will place a mask over the baby's eyes so that they aren't hurt by the bright lights. The light helps the body get rid of the excess bilirubin that is found just below the skin. It does this by changing the structure of the bilirubin so that the baby's liver is better able to absorb and excrete it.

The lights are harmless to a child. They will not get a tan or burn, although they may have increased bowel movements as their bodies struggle to excrete the excess bilirubin.

Treatment usually lasts a couple of days, and the doctor will remove him the moment he thinks the danger is past.

While most forms of jaundice are harmless, some types of jaundice can be fatal. It is always better to be safe then sorry. If you notice that your baby's eyes or skin is turning yellow, contact your doctor immediately.

Sources Used:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov
http://www.californiawebsites.com

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