About 50% of the babies become jaundiced when they are 2 to 3 days of age. This is called physiological jaundice in contrast to pathological jaundice that may occur before 2 days of age. Pathological jaundice may be due to the fact that you and your husband may have different blood groups and because of this, antibodies are produced in the baby’s blood. These antibodies destroy the baby’s red blood cells very rapidly and thus cause jaundice. Pathological jaundice can also be due to the fact that baby may have some deficiency in certain enzymes like G6PD.
Physiological jaundice is mild jaundice and occurs after 2 to 3 days of birth. This jaundice is not due to any infection. The reason for this is that baby’s liver is not yet mature and cannot handle the extra bilirubin that is collected in the baby’s blood due to normal breakdown of red blood cells (breaking of old red blood cells is a normal phenomena that occurs in everyone’s body). After 7 to 10 days, the baby’s liver becomes mature and the jaundice disappears. In some babies, it may last up to one month of age, especially in breast fed babies. If jaundice is mild, there is nothing to worry. However, if it lasts more than 1 month or disappears and reappears again then you must contact your doctor.
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