1. calm down.
2. is your child born term? if yes then day 17 old is prolonged jaundice for your child.
if that is the case, there's no real harm to jaundice except that the child looks yellow. there is NO risk for kernicterus for prolonged jaundice as the blood brain barrier is developed now, and thus there is NO need for phototherapy.

as long as it is only jaundice and not anything else like fever or unable to feed, it's fine.

This post has been edited by slimey: Jan 27 2016, 04:17 PM

yes. that's term.

Yes. Use eye can see.

Estimate is quite accurate if child never exposed to phototherapy or sun light.
If jaundice up to head 50, up to neck 100, upper chest 150, upper abdomen 200 below belly button 250, hands and feet 300.

A lot depends on the age of the child.

Day 1 jaundice is always a big sign of problem and must be hospitalized.
Day 2-14 jaundice can be physiological or pathological. If no other sign other than jaundice, then the indication for phototherapy depends on the age of child, weight, blood type, any g6pd, and whether the child is term or not.
Day 14 and above is considered prolonged jaundice ( above day 21 for preterm child) and phototherapy is not required but need to investigate cause of prolonged jaundice( urinary tract infection, breast milk jaundice, hypothyroidism, etc). If all investigation is normal result, then conclude is breast milk jaundice which is not harmful and no treatment is required.

I need to know the previous levels and days of life the level is at first to be on the safe side

Oh and if you don't mind, can pm me the referral letter to have a look also. I am curious why the doctor refer to hospital.

This post has been edited by slimey: Jan 27 2016, 07:01 PM

Eem. Some corrections.

Blood type matters because of possibility of something called abo incompatibility. It can happen when mother blood group is o and baby blood group is not o. Anti-a and anti-b antigen from mother can be present in baby blood in such cases and can cause hemolysis in baby increasing the bilirubin level.
Anyway, this is usually a factor in the first week or so. Not in prolonged jaundice.
Exchange transfusion is not needed in prolonged jaundice also.

nope.

there's many reasons for jaundice............

breastmilk is a rare cause.

and breastmilk jaundice is harmless. to stop breast feeding because of breastfeeding jaundice cause more harm than good.

those that stop a few days then ok is not breast milk jaundice.

duh.

and there's no harm to breast milk jaundice.........no reason to stop.

nope.

jaundice is just yellow looking of the skin. the real harm is high level of bilirubin before the blood brain barrier is fully formed which is at day 14 for term babies. high level of bilirubin before day 14 can cause kernicterus. after that there's no harm in jaundice.

neonatal jaundice is caused by increased break down of fetal type red blood cell.
physiological neonatal jaundice can occur in about 40 percent of neonates. the jaundice in physiological jaundice hardly ever pass the point requiring phototherapy.
pathological jaundice occurs when there is infection or ABO antigen antibody incompatibility or Rhesus factor antibodies occur in the neonates. these can cause very high level of jaundice and usually occur very early in neonates.

so, if you stop breast feeding before day 14 how do you know if it is due to breast milk jaundice or not?

and breast milk jaundice never cause high level of bilirubin.

zero indication to stop breast feeding in a child with jaundice.

now stop spreading this ignorance and get educated.

blablabla.

many reasons.

time.

baby liver can mature over time.

blablabla......

what's your indication for stopping breast feeding again????

no it doesn't.

read more.

then you read wrong.

no one will diagnose breast milk jaundice before day 14.

and so?

most jaundice clear on its own by that time.

take it or leave it.

yes absurd indeed.
studies were done and found no correlation.

readmitted for what?

day 21 don't even require phototherapy.

day 21 is prolonged jaundice.

no reason to readmit to hospital. kk should be able to carry out investigation.

why phototheraphy for prolonged jaundice?
no point.

better to investigate cause of jaundice. if rule out all the cause then it is just harmless breast milk jaundice.

i'll be sad for you..........for not empowering yourself with knowledge

Nope.

Phototherapy is contraindicated for prolonged jaundice.
Bilirubin at 200 for day 14 is not even high. Don't require phototherapy.
And bilirubin at 200 at day 14 cause no harm
Nothing bad for health