Treatment

Newborn jaundice does not require any treatment in most cases because the condition slowly resolves spontaneously.

The mother of the baby should be instructed on what is neonatal jaundice and also on what should be consistent.

The mother is stressed by the importance of frequent breastfeeding with natural breast milk, not artificial milk replacements.
Optimization of enteral nutrition speeds up the whole process.

Low breast milk intake increases enterohepatic circulation and prolongs the overall time of high blood bilirubin levels.

However, the child's stay in natural daylight (heliotherapy) is more important, because its effect on the child's skin accelerates the breakdown of bilirubin directly in the blood.

Decayed bilirubin is broken down more quickly from its body, excreted in the urine, the condition improves and the skin regains its natural color faster.

However, make sure that the child is not exposed to direct sunlight, which would achieve more damage than benefit.

Phototherapy

Phototherapy in translation actually means light treatment, ie it also includes targeted exposure of the baby's skin to natural daylight.

In extremely yellow newborns, this common process needs a little help, and therefore improvised conditions are created using blue light of a specific frequency.
Other types of light can also be used.

Exposure of their skin to blue light (with eye protection) results in photoisomerization, structural isomerization, and photooxidation (lower toxicity of bilirubin).

It, therefore, works on the principle of degradation of bilirubin in the skin by light, which breaks down into non-toxic products that are excreted in the urine.

The big advantage is the non-invasiveness, safety, and success of phototherapy.
Demonstrably reduces the progression of the condition and the transition to severe hyperbilirubinemia.

Interesting:
If the newborn's bed is covered with aluminum foil, the effectiveness of phototherapy is higher.

Pharmacological treatment

In pharmacological therapy, immunoglobulins are used as an adjunct to phototherapy.

They have been shown to reduce the need for high-risk exchange transfusion.

More modern drugs include metalloporphyrins and protoporphyrins .
However, their use is still only experimental.

Exchange transfusion

Exchange transfusion is used in cases of jaundice if light therapy has failed.
However, the final indication criterion for exchange transfusion is the value of umbilical cord hemoglobin and bilurubin.

It helps to remove sensitized erythrocytes, antibodies causing hemolysis and, last but not least, bilirubin.
Secondary corrects anemia.

It is basically a partially replaced newborn blood with high levels of bilirubin healthy blood.

Ultimately, this reduces the overall level of bilirubin in his body, which helps to manage the condition more quickly.

It is not indicated in all children, it is the most radical therapeutic method.

Important:
Exchange transfusion also has its risks, which are the side effects of this procedure.
These result from the very quality of the blood can and the correctness of the whole procedure.
The most common is volume overload, risk of infection or allergic reactions.
Hypocalcaemia, hypomagnesaemia, hyperkalaemia, hypoglycaemia, acid-base imbalance (ABR), metabolic acidosis and alkalosis, air embolism, thrombosis, arrhythmias, cardiac arrest also occur.