NICU – Phototherapy Post Birth (Jaundice)

In the first few weeks of life, D. had numerous blood tests. In the first few critical days they would take her blood daily. After a few weeks, frequency went down to every other day. Last two weeks of our stay it was twice a week.

One of the indicators doctors checked among a dozen others was bilirubin levels. Hyperbilirubinemia is quite common among preterm babies as their liver is not mature enough to get rid of excessive bilirubin. This is also called Jaundice. If bilirubin level gets too high in the blood, too much bilirubin might enter the brain and might cause brain damage.

It sounds scary, but I thought Jaundice was the simplest problem we had. There is treatment, which is amazingly simple, effective, and harmless.

I have also seen my niece getting the same treatment when she was born (full term). I was familiar with it, and I have witnessed her getting better after the treatment.

Treatment involves getting the baby exposed to certain wavelengths of light, which help break down the bilirubin into a form that is easier to remove from the body. During the treatment, D.’s eyes were covered to protect them from the damage light might cause.

Interesting story behind is that this was an amazing nurse discovery. Nurse Jean Ward realized that newborns whose bassinets were near the window got less jaundice*. How amazing is that!

D. stayed under the lights for 2-3 days. Yes, I do not remember the exact number of days she stayed in. It is funny how I did not even bother to take a note of this one in my huge file of NICU stay details. I guess, considering other issues we have been going through simultaneously, this felt like D. getting a tan in her incubator😊