Serum bilirubin levels in breast-fed vs formula-fed infants during the first 3-5 days of life.

Breast feeding seems to be a cause of neonatal jaundice during the first five days of life; the mechanism of which needs further study. Thai infants appear to exhibit a higher level of "physiological jaundice" bilirubin level than Caucasians.Neonatal jaundice remains the most common problem in the well baby nursery. Pediatricians and neonatologists believe that breast-fed infants have a generally increased severity of jaundice during the first week of life. The authors report findings from their study of whether healthy breast-fed Thai infants have significantly higher serum bilirubin levels than those of formula-fed infants in the first 3-5 days of life. Of 190 infants born, 130 were delivered by cesarean section. The authors studied 76 infants fed with formulated milk and 54 fed with breast milk; the study did not include infants who were delivered normally and fed with formulated milk. All mothers with normal delivery insisted upon breast feeding, while discomfort among many mothers who delivered by cesarean section led them to agree to feed their babies with formulated milk. The study found breast feeding to be an apparent cause of neonatal jaundice during the first five days of life, although more study is needed on the phenomenon. Thai infants seem to have more physiological jaundice than Caucasians.