Question
My baby girl is 25 days old. Her jaundice hasn’t subsided yet, but it’s better than before. Now her face is yellow, but her hands, feet, and body are normal. It can be confirmed that it’s not pathological jaundice. I went to the hospital today, and the doctor said that blood can’t be drawn because the child is too small and it’s not good to draw blood.
Answer
For most newborns, jaundice is not a disease and poses no risk. Babies may develop jaundice within 3 days. This is because red blood cells break down in the first few days after birth, producing a pigment called bilirubin, which causes the baby’s skin to turn yellow. Since the liver of a newborn is not fully matured for about a week, it cannot effectively excrete bilirubin, leading to jaundice symptoms. The treatment for jaundice involves appropriate ultraviolet light therapy. In fact, even without treatment, babies may fully recover within a week. However, in some cases, such as when there is an incompatibility between the mother’s and fetus’s blood types, severe jaundice may occur, requiring timely treatment. The treatment methods include… (Information missing, cannot be inferred from the content)