Question
What is the normal range for neonatal jaundice?
Answer
Neonatal jaundice refers to a condition where a newborn’s entire body, including the skin, eyes, and urine, turns yellow, a condition known as fetal jaundice in traditional Chinese medicine. If jaundice appears within 24 hours of birth and persists for 2 to 3 weeks without subsiding, or even continues to deepen or reappear after fading, or if it starts to appear within one week to several weeks after birth, these are signs of pathological jaundice. Neonatal jaundice has true and false forms. True jaundice refers to pathological jaundice, such as neonatal hemolytic disease, neonatal sepsis, neonatal hepatitis, congenital bile duct obstruction, etc. False jaundice specifically refers to physiological jaundice in infants, which does not require treatment. If a baby develops jaundice after 24 hours of birth and can naturally disappear within 14 days without other symptoms, this is called physiological jaundice.