Question
After birth, the newborn’s skin appears slightly yellow, with a good mental state. The stool contains milk residue, and there is no yellowing of the iris. The birth date is November 9, 2009, and the jaundice appeared on November 15, 2009. There is no history of special treatment. How should it be handled and prevented?
Answer
Physiological jaundice usually does not require special treatment, but some measures can be taken to alleviate symptoms and prevent its progression to pathological jaundice. These include maintaining warmth, feeding appropriately in advance, providing sufficient water and calories, and timely excretion of meconium to reduce enterohepatic circulation. At the same time, close monitoring of the progression of jaundice should be carried out, and it should be differentiated from possible pathological jaundice. In daily life, it is advisable to avoid feeding the newborn with fried foods, alcohol, spicy foods, high-fat foods, seafood, lamb, coffee, etc., and instead, consume fresh liver, fish, lean meat, eggs, chrysanthemum leaves, tofu, water chestnuts, mushrooms, mung beans, dates, pears, sesame seeds, hawthorn fruit, and sugar.