3 Treatment Methods for Neonatal Jaundice
What can I do to treat my baby’s jaundice?
Here we tell you what are the treatments and what are the common steps at each stage…
Jaundice in newborns is a relatively common disease. It may be fair to say that about half of all term babies (babies born at 38 weeks or later) develop jaundice.
Simply, jaundice or jaundice or neonatal jaundice is the result of insufficient excretion of bilirubin in the baby’s blood.
Bilirubin is a yellow bile pigment that results from the breakdown of hemoglobin and causes jaundice in urine and feces.
When bilirubin is not broken down in the blood, it causes jaundice in the baby. Jaundice is not a dangerous disease, but it must be treated.
How to diagnose jaundice in a baby?
Accurate diagnosis of jaundice is done by a bilirubin check device and by a doctor. The bilirubin check device is placed on the baby’s skin and grades the jaundice.
The bilirubin check device may be faulty in babies with dark skin.
A more accurate diagnosis is made with a bilirubin test. In this test, the baby’s jaundice is accurately diagnosed.
Your baby will normally be examined by a pediatrician on the first day of labor and then probably at three days of age, and will be diagnosed with jaundice.
However, after these examinations, you should be aware of the baby’s condition and if you see any suspicious cases, call the doctor or take the baby to the doctor for examination.
What babies are prone to jaundice?
- Non-term babies (babies born before 38 weeks)
- Different blood types in mother and baby
- Genetic history
- boys
- Some other cases
What does jaundice treatment include?
The neonatal doctor determines the treatment based on experience and test results, as well as by looking at the neonatal jaundice graph, which shows the severity of jaundice based on the time of birth and the amount of bilirubin in it.
Treatment usually involves one of the following methods:
- Blood transfusion: In severe cases, the baby’s blood will change to treat jaundice.
- Phototherapy in the hospital: In this method, the baby is cared for in the hospital and his jaundice is treated with light radiation from a phototherapy device.
- Phototherapy at home: In cases where the jaundice is not severe but still persists, the doctor will advise the parents to rent a phototherapy device at home. This method is almost similar to phototherapy in a hospital, except that the phototherapy device is at home and the parents actually take care of the baby.
Regarding the differences between phototherapy in home and hospital, it should be said that phototherapy in the hospital usually involves high costs as well as the risk of nosocomial infections, and of course gives the parents the advantage of using an experienced medical team. Also, in phototherapy at home, the costs are much lower and there is no risk of nosocomial infections, but instead the parents take care of themselves.
In any case, it is up to the doctor to determine whether the baby will be treated at home or in the hospital, and parents should not decide on their own.
Infant undergoing phototherapy in hospital
Herbal remedies for jaundice
Unfortunately, there are misconceptions about the treatment of jaundice from the past to the present that if you, as a parent, have encountered jaundice in your baby, you must have heard these beliefs from your family olders and maybe you have been forced to do them.
Necessary care during phototherapy
If phototherapy is performed in a hospital, doctors and nurses will provide all the necessary conditions. But in phototherapy at home, there are some things to keep in mind:
- Make sure the baby has diapers
- Have the baby blindfolded (some phototherapy devices do not require blindfolds)
- Room temperature should be between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius
- Do not use ointment for your baby’s skin
- Be sure to change your baby’s diaper before each phototherapy time
- Be sure to complete breastfeeding before each phototherapy session
- Ask your doctor about the duration of phototherapy and the duration of rest.
- When the baby is restless during phototherapy, you can gently hold baby’s hand hand and comfort him/her
When the baby is restless during phototherapy, you can gently hold baby’s hand and comfort her/him
Summary
Jaundice is a common disease that can occur in any baby and can be easily treated. Treatment includes blood transfusions or phototherapy at home or in the hospital.
Herbal remedies are not suitable for treating jaundice and it is better not to use them.