Premature Babies—Jaundice

Also called: Icterus

Jaundice causes your skin and the whites of your eyes to turn yellow. Too much bilirubin causes jaundice. Bilirubin is a yellow chemical in hemoglobin, the substance that carries oxygen in your red blood cells. As red blood cells break down, your body builds new cells to replace them. The old ones are processed by the liver. If the liver cannot handle the blood cells as they break down, bilirubin builds up in the body and your skin may look yellow.

Many healthy babies have some jaundice during the first week of life. It usually goes away. However, jaundice can happen at any age and may be a sign of a problem. Jaundice can happen for many reasons, such as

• Blood diseases
• Genetic syndromes
• Liver diseases, such as hepatitis or cirrhosis
• Blockage of bile ducts
• Infections
• Medicines

• Bilirubin – blood (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Bilirubin – urine (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Jaundice (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Jaundice causes (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Newborn jaundice (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Newborn jaundice – discharge (Medical Encyclopedia)

Also called: Preemies

Almost 1 of every 10 infants born in the United States are premature, or preemies. A premature birth is when a baby is born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks.

Important growth and development happen throughout pregnancy – especially in the final months and weeks. Because they are born too early, preemies weigh much less than full-term babies. They may have health problems because their organs did not have enough time to develop. Problems that a baby born too early may have include

• Breathing problems
• Feeding difficulties
• Cerebral palsy
• Developmental delay
• Vision problems
• Hearing problems

Preemies need special medical care in a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU. They stay there until their organ systems can work on their own.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Apnea of prematurity (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Intraventricular hemorrhage of the newborn (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Necrotizing enterocolitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Neonatal weight gain and nutrition (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Osteopenia – premature infants (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Premature infant (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Preterm labor (Medical Encyclopedia)