breast milk jaundice

jaundice /jaun·dice/ (jawn´dis) icterus; yellowness of the skin, scleras, mucous membranes, and excretions due to hyperbilirubinemia and deposition of bile pigments.

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acholuric jaundice  jaundice without bilirubinemia, associated with elevated unconjugated bilirubin that is not excreted by the kidney.

acholuric familial jaundice  hereditary spherocytosis.

breast milk jaundice  elevated unconjugated bilirubin in some breast-fed infants due to the presence of 5-β-pregnane-3-α-20-β-diol in breast milk, which inhibits glucuronyl transferase conjugating activity, or to dehydration.

cholestatic jaundice  that resulting from abnormal bile flow in the liver.

hemolytic jaundice  that due to increased production of bilirubin from hemoglobin under conditions causing accelerated degradation of erythrocytes.

hepatocellular jaundice  that due to injury to or disease of liver cells.

hepatogenic jaundice , hepatogenous jaundice that due to disease or disorder of the liver.

leptospiral jaundice  Weil's syndrome.

mechanical jaundice  obstructive j.

neonatal jaundice , jaundice of the newborn icterus neonatorum.

nuclear jaundice  kernicterus.

obstructive jaundice  that due to blocking of bile flow.

physiologic jaundice  mild icterus neonatorum lasting the first few days of life.

retention jaundice  that due to inability of the liver to dispose of the bilirubin provided by the circulating blood.

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breast milk jaundice,

jaundice and hyperbilirubinemia in breastfed infants that occur in the first weeks of life as a result of a metabolite in the mother's milk that inhibits the infant's ability to conjugate bilirubin to glucuronide for excretion. See also hyperbilirubinemia of the newborn.

observations Breast milk jaundice usually peaks around the tenth day of life. Serum bilirubin levels usually exceed 5 mg/100 mL but rarely reach dangerous levels of 20 mg/100 mL, at which point kernicterus may develop. The infant seems normal and healthy, but the skin, the whites of the eyes, and the serum are jaundiced (yellow).

interventions If serum bilirubin exceeds acceptable levels, breastfeeding should continue frequently to enhance stooling and decrease the chance for enterohepatic circulation. Phototherapy may be used to accelerate excretion of bilirubin through the skin. The use of oral supplementation with glucose water or water alone is not recommended.

nursing considerations The primary concerns of the nurse are to observe for signs of increasing jaundice, to monitor serum bilirubin levels, and usually to reassure the mother that her child is well and that the jaundice resolves slowly but completely in time.

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breast milk jaundice

Neonatology Jaundice caused by an ↑ in BR in the late postnatal period, attributed to enterohepatic cycling of bile pigments See Breast feeding.