Question
At 5 days old, the hospital said the baby had jaundice and stayed for three days under blue light therapy before being discharged. At one month old, the baby is still slightly jaundiced and cannot receive the vaccine. The forehead reading was 8 points, and after three days of medication, it dropped to 2 points. Will this have an impact? Does high jaundice in newborns really make them dumb?
Answer
Newborns go through a physiological jaundice period after birth, which returns to normal after treatment. Jaundice can be severe throughout the month, but it’s not particularly severe. It may be related to breastfeeding. There’s no need to worry; jaundice won’t cause intelligence issues. The value of pediatric jaundice is not high, and breastfeeding is good as long as the mental state is good. Generally, there won’t be bilirubin encephalopathy if the baby is born without conditions like oxygen deficiency, asphyxia, or pneumonia.