Jaundice

[moolady1977]

Hi ,baby was born at 37 weeks weighing 4lb 14oz daughter was told baby is jaundice and needs to go under the lights she video called be 10 minutes ago crying they are having to put her under both sets of lights and baby may need a blood transfusion if levels continue to rise . My daughter was too upset to explain what it all meant and I'm just wondering if any has been through sane thing and could explain in simple terms do I don't Google it and get all upset if I don't understand it as none of mine ever got jaundice ,Tia

Hello, it’s quite usual for premature and very small babies to be jaundiced. It means bilirubin (a blood byproduct) is building up in them too fast, basically their blood isn’t cleaning itself quickly enough. My DD was a similar weight (but 34 weeks) and also jaundiced.

More milk intake helps, but of course when they are tiny and sleepy they can only drink tiny amounts.

They put the babies under UV lights because it helps break down the bilirubin. It can look a bit scary as the babies have to wear special goggles to protect their eyes, but it doesn’t hurt them at all. The light sorted my DD’s jaundice, I think she went under them twice.

Hopefully the double lights will work for your grandbaby, I’m sure the doctors were giving a “worst case scenario” in talking about blood transfusions, rather than saying that is likely, I think that’s pretty rare.

If your daughter is able to express any colostrum or milk that will help too, although she shouldn’t feel pressured if she is finding it hard to do so.

Best wishes