12/08/2025
Jaundice
Jaundice is a common condition in newborn babies and is usually harmless. It causes their skin and eyes to have a yellowish tint. It happens when there’s too much bilirubin, a yellow pigment, in the baby’s blood. Most babies develop jaundice within the first few days after birth, and it usually goes away on its own. Yellowing of the skin can be more difficult to see on brown or black skin. It is sometimes easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet.
Other symptoms include:
- Dark, yellow urine (a newborn’s urine should be colourless)
- Pale coloured poo (it should be yellow or orange)
It happens because newborns have a high number of red blood cells that break down quickly, producing bilirubin. As their little livers are still maturing, they might not be able to remove bilirubin from the blood efficiently, leading to jaundice.
Jaundice is treated with:
- Phototherapy – a special type of light shines on the skin, which alters the bilirubin into a form that can be more easily broken down by the liver
- An exchange transfusion – where your baby's blood is removed using a thin tube (catheter) placed in their blood vessels and replaced with blood from a matching donor; most babies respond well to treatment and can leave hospital after a few days
It's estimated 6 out of every 10 babies develop jaundice, including 8 out of 10 babies born prematurely before the 37th week of pregnancy.
But only around 1 in 20 babies has a blood bilirubin level high enough to need treatment.
You can find more info on the NHS website.
TAG a parent-to-be who’ll find this helpful.