How to Treat Jaundice in Newborns

Infant jaundice is marked by a yellow discoloration of the skin and a yellowing in the whites of the eyes. In newborns, high levels of bilirubin can cause jaundice.

Though jaundice usually disappears on its own, doctors generally treat newborn jaundice while mom and baby are still in the hospital.

According to the March of Dimes, newborn jaundice is the most common form of jaundice. And the most common treatment for jaundice in newborns is phototherapy, where the newborn lies beneath a bili-light or on top of a bili-blanket. Though special fiber-optic blankets sometimes cause a mild rash, using them properly - according to doctor's orders - can be effective in treating jaundice.

Phototherapy & Bili-Lights

When one of my granddaughters, Audrey, was born with jaundice five-and-a-half years ago, doctors placed her under bili-lights. Lying naked in her phototherapy sessions with nothing but a protective covering over her eyes, Audrey looked as if she was in a tiny plastic bubble. When doctors had to send my daughter home and keep Audrey in the hospital, my daughter fell apart.

Infant jaundice can be frightening to a new parent. In most cases, however, newborn jaundice clears up by itself. In its most extreme form, though, jaundice can cause brain damage and result in kernicterus, a rare neurological condition.

Infant jaundice should never be ignored - it must be treated if bilirubin levels are high and infant jaundice does not go away on its own.

Bili-Blankets

A couple of years after Audrey was born, her brother, Nolan, was born - also with jaundice - but instead of keeping him in the hospital, doctors sent Nolan home with orders for his parents to use a bili-blanket on him.

The bili-blanket is a portable device that, like the bili-lights, uses phototherapy in a light-weight pad.

Because the staff was out of bili-blankets when they sent Nolan home, the hospital provided home delivery of the bili-blanket for Nolan and education on how to use it for my daughter and her husband.

Intravenous Immunoglobulin

A distinctly different type of jaundice treatment might be used for newborns who are born with blood types that are different from their mothers'. When antibodies the baby receives from the mother break down the newborn's own blood cells, IVIg or Intravenous Immunoglobulin jaundice therapy becomes the desired treatment plan.

As the name suggests, this form of treatment is introduced intravenously to treat jaundice.

Exchange Transfusions

In worst-case-scenarios, when babies with jaundice do not respond to the bili-lights, bili-blankets, fiber-optic blankets or Intravenous Immunoglobulin, more extreme measures must be taken. In those cases, doctors may order an exchange transfusion.

Exchange transfusions are risky and should be used only in cases where bilirubin levels are so high, the infant does not respond to the lights or the blankets.

In exchange transfusions, the infant's blood is withdrawn slowly and repeatedly to get rid of the bilirubin and antibodies from the mother. The blood is then replaced with donor blood.

Decreasing the Risk of Infant Jaundice

Once baby is home, parents must continue to be vigilant of their baby. To decrease the risk of jaundice, the Mayo Clinic recommends frequent home feedings. Frequent feedings will cause the baby to have more bowel movements and will encourage elimination of bilirubin through the stool.

Preventing Newborn Jaundice

As in decreasing risk, adequate feeding is the best preventive measure parents can use in preventing jaundice from occurring in the first place.

Five years after Audrey was born and three years after Nolan was born, they are both healthy and suffer no ill effects from their newborn jaundice.

Sources:

"Newborn Jaundice," March of Dimes.

Mayo Clinic Staff Writers, "Infant Jaundice," The Mayo Clinic.

US National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health, "Newborn Jaundice," Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia.