If your baby has normal (physiological) jaundice, they don't need any special treatment.
If your baby's bilirubin level is high, the most commonly used treatment is phototherapy (bright light therapy). It does not contain rays that would harm your baby. Phototherapy is very safe and effective and is only available in hospital.
The treatment works best when as much skin as possible is exposed to the light. Hospital staff will:
Phototherapy works by changing the bilirubin in the skin into a form that will not cause deafness or brain damage. Your baby needs phototherapy until the level of bilirubin has dropped to a safer level. Your baby needs regular blood tests to measure the bilirubin level. Babies usually have phototherapy treatment for 48 hours, but often longer for bilirubin levels that remain high.
Usually, phototherapy is the only medical treatment needed. A small number of babies with severe jaundice need blood transfusions to replace red blood cells that have been used up, and to dilute out the bilirubin.
Thank you to Babylink (website no longer available) for allowing use of the phototherapy photo.
This page last reviewed 13 November 2020.
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Links
[1] https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/jaundice-babies
[2] https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/contact?from=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kidshealth.org.nz%2Fprint%2F2049%3Flanguage%3Dmi