My baby is one month old and his face is a little yellow

Many babies are generally darker and yellower when they are just born. This is a very normal phenomenon and parents do not need to worry too much about it. As the baby grows up day by day, his skin color will become much whiter. But is it normal for a one-month-old baby to have a slightly yellow face? If the baby's face is still relatively yellow at this time, it will easily cause concern to parents. Let's analyze the reasons why the baby's face is still relatively yellow at one month old, so that people can understand clearly why.

1 Jaundice is the most common symptom in the neonatal period. About 60% of children will experience this symptom to varying degrees. Parents should not panic when encountering this situation. They can make a preliminary judgment based on the time, degree, and development speed of jaundice. There is no need to worry too much about physiological jaundice. If the jaundice is severe and develops rapidly, it may be pathological jaundice and should be sent to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment in time.

2 There are several causes of neonatal jaundice: ● Physiological jaundice: It is a phenomenon unique to the neonatal period. Because the fetus is in a low-oxygen environment in the uterus, there is an overproduction of red blood cells in the blood, and these red blood cells are mostly immature and easily destroyed. After the fetus is born, excessive bilirubin is produced, which is about twice that of adults. On the other hand, due to the immature liver function of the newborn, bilirubin metabolism is restricted, causing the newborn to experience jaundice for a period of time. Diagnosis: Physiological jaundice of full-term infants appears on the 2nd to 3rd day after birth. The skin is light yellow, the sclera (white of the eye) is mainly blue with a slight yellow tint, the urine is slightly yellow but does not stain the diaper. It is the yellowest on the 4th to 5th day and disappears in 2-3 weeks. Liver function tests show normal results and increased serum unconjugated bilirubin. Physiological jaundice in premature infants will appear earlier, be higher, and last longer, and will take about a full month to subside. Response: Physiological jaundice is a normal physiological phenomenon. The child will not feel any discomfort and generally no treatment is required. ●Breast milk jaundice: It occurs due to breastfeeding and is a special type of pathological jaundice. Because breast milk contains the hormone pregnanediol, it can inhibit the activity of glucuronyl transferase in the liver of the newborn, so that the bilirubin in the blood cannot be metabolized and excreted in time, the concentration increases, and the newborn's skin and sclera become yellow. Diagnosis: The child is breastfed and the degree of jaundice exceeds normal physiological jaundice. If breastfeeding is stopped for 48 hours, the jaundice will decrease significantly. If breastfeeding resumes, the jaundice will increase again. Response: Breast milk jaundice generally does not affect the health of the child, and there are no symptoms of fever or loss of appetite. If breastfeeding is stopped in time, jaundice will weaken in about 2-4 days and disappear completely within 6-10 days. There is no need to panic if breast milk jaundice occurs. You can temporarily replace breastfeeding with milk when you stop breastfeeding, and then continue breastfeeding after the jaundice improves. ●Hemolytic jaundice: The most common cause is ABO hemolysis, which is caused by the incompatibility of the blood types of the mother and the fetus. The most common case is when the mother's blood type is O and the fetus's blood type is A or B, and the jaundice caused is more severe. Other cases include when the mother's blood type is A and the fetus's blood type is B or AB; the mother's blood type is B and the fetus's blood type is A or AB, which are less common and the jaundice caused is milder. It is reported that the incidence of ABO blood incompatibility hemolytic disease in newborns is 11.9%.

Diagnosis: Hemolytic jaundice is characterized by onset within 24 hours after birth and gradual worsening. Treatment: If the symptoms are mild due to ABO blood type, phototherapy may be sufficient. In severe cases, exchange transfusion therapy can be performed in the early stages. ●Infectious jaundice: It occurs when liver cell function is damaged due to viral infection or bacterial infection. Viral infections are mostly intrauterine infections, with cytomegalovirus and hepatitis B virus infections being the most common. Other infections include rubella virus, Epstein-Barr virus, toxoplasmosis, etc., which are relatively rare. Diagnosis: The most common bacterial infection is septic jaundice, which is characterized by persistent jaundice after physiological jaundice or persistent jaundice after the physiological jaundice disappears. If the mother insists on prenatal care and examinations, the child will rarely develop infectious jaundice. Infectious jaundice requires hospital treatment. ●Obstructive jaundice: mostly caused by congenital biliary malformations, with congenital biliary atresia being the most common. Diagnosis: The characteristic of jaundice is that jaundice appears 1-2 weeks or 3-4 weeks after birth and gradually deepens. At the same time, the color of the stool gradually changes to light yellow or even white clay. This type of jaundice can usually be diagnosed by B-ultrasound examination and needs to be treated in the hospital.

3 Regardless of the cause, severe pathological jaundice can cause "kernicterus", which, in addition to causing damage to the nervous system, may also cause death. Therefore, the focus of neonatal pathological jaundice should be on prevention, such as preventing toxoplasmosis and rubella virus infections during pregnancy, especially preventing viral infections in the early stages of pregnancy; preventing the occurrence of sepsis after birth; and vaccinating newborns with hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Parents should closely observe the changes in their children's jaundice. Once they find signs of pathological jaundice, they should be sent to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment in time.

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