Jaundice @ Sakit Kuning 4

Lil’ Izzah was treated in NICU for 10 days, both for jaundice and intestine infection. And, I missed her so very much during the separation.

The infections could have been caused by any of these actions.

1. doctor at the clinic inserted her unsterilised gloved finger into my baby’s mouth
2. doctor at the clinic gave plain water through an unsterilised picagary
3. hubby gave mineral water (might contain bacteria) through bottle as advised by the doctor
4. me gave some fresh goat’s milk (might not be properly pausterised) through bottle as advised by relatives

You see, as new parents, we received lots of different advises for treating jaundice (sakit kuning).

Thank God, we do not follow the advises of bathing the baby with some kind of leaves or some Chinese yellow herbs water. All these could have cause some kind of skin infection!

So, for all new parents out there, please be strong and RESIST all the temptations to follow any non-medical advises for treating your baby’s jaundice. What works for someone else’s baby doesn’t necessarily will work for your baby.

Furthermore, it could just be a coincidence that giving goat’s milk, lots of plain water, expose to morning sunlight and bath with some type of leaves or Chinese yellow herbs water heal a baby’s jaundice. There is no scientific evidence to proof that they works.

The only SAFE treatment for jaundice is the phototheraphy session. Phototheraphy uses the wave-length of the blue spectrum of light to break down bilirubin molecules, thus helping the immature liver to process the bilirubin faster.

While morning sunlight (also contain the blue-spectrum of light) is traditionally used to treat jaundice, the risk of sunburn due to the depletion of the ozone layer, may cause more harm to your baby than good.

So, learn from our mistake. Get the proper medical treatment immediately.

You see, all these non-medical advises could actually complicate the jaundice. And, as in our case, caused infection and days of anxiety too!