Question
My baby was born and everything was normal during the time I’ve been taking care of her. Every time we did an ultrasound, she was particularly normal. However, after birth, the doctor said that her whole body looked yellow and that she had jaundice. Does a newborn with 17.5 points of jaundice need to be hospitalized? Please help me figure this out?
Answer
If a newborn’s umbilical cord blood bilirubin level is normally around 51.3μmol/L (3mg/dl), a level of 17.5 should not pose too much of a problem; there might be an issue with the test unit. If hospitalization is required, the doctor will clearly inform you that neonatal jaundice is common, and effective and reasonable treatment factors are also reasonable causes for the disease.