Incidence and Pattern of Jaundice In Healthy Breast-Fed Infants During the First Month of Life

The incidence and pattern of jaundice in 155 normal, full-term, breast-fed, white infants was examined. Infants were screened for jaundice on Days 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 following birth using transcutaneous bilirubinometry (TcB). By Day 3, 49.7% of the infants were classified as jaundiced (> 10 mg/dl). Infants with low TcB indices on Days 2, 3, and 5 never developed jaundice as indicated by elevated TcB indices on Days 7, 9, 11, and 13. Hence, it may be possible to target infants at risk for severe jaundice prior to discharge. The observed rate of 10.3% for breast-milk jaundice (jaundice present at Day 13) is significantly higher than the highest reported rate of 2.4% (z = 6.43, p < .01). Furthermore, the pattern of jaundice in these infants does not appear to have two peaks, indicating that it is not possible to distinguish between exaggerated physiologic jaundice and breast-milk jaundice using TcB.