Prolonged jaundice clinic

This is for anyone whose baby has been referred to our Prolonged Jaundice Clinic by their GP or midwife.

What is jaundice?

Jaundice is a yellow tinge to your baby’s skin and eyes in the first two weeks of their life. It usually disappears gradually and most babies will be completely healthy.

Who needs to be seen at the Prolonged Jaundice Clinic?

If necessary, your GP will refer your baby to our clinic for assessment to rule out other causes.

Our clinic is for :

• Full term babies (born after 37 weeks gestation) who are still jaundiced after 2 weeks of age.

• Premature babies (born before 37 weeks gestation) who are still jaundiced after 3 weeks of age.

A small number of babies have a problem with their liver or their blood. This causes them to still look jaundiced after 2 weeks.

What if I think my baby is still jaundiced after 2 or 3 weeks and has not been referred to the clinic?

Contact your GP immediately so they can refer your baby to our Prolonged Jaundice Clinic. It is important that we see babies with prolonged jaundice before 5 weeks of age.

What happens at the clinic?

Our Prolonged Jaundice Clinic is held in our Children’s Outpatients Department and is run by a paediatric nurse or doctor. They will ask you questions about the following:

• your pregnancy and delivery
• your blood group
• your baby’s birth weight and current weight
• how your baby is feeding
• the colour of your baby’s wee (urine) and poo (stool)
• whether you have had the results from your baby’s day five new-born screening which your midwife will have completed. Bring the results letter with you if you have already received it.
• the ethnic background of both parents. This may be relevant for certain conditions, for example G6PD, which is a genetic blood disorder.

The paediatric nurse or doctor will weigh your baby.

They will also test your baby’s blood to check their jaundice level. The blood can be taken from your baby’s heel or from a vein.

They will run other blood tests to check your baby’s liver function, thyroid function, blood group and to see if any antibodies are present.

The nurse or doctor may ask you to collect a urine sample for testing.

What happens if my baby’s test results are abnormal?

Most babies do not need treatment for their jaundice at this stage. Most results are normal and the baby is healthy.

If any of the test results are abnormal, your baby may need extra blood tests or other investigations such as a liver ultrasound scan. The paediatric team will keep you informed of the results.

Contact the Paediatric Admin Team (see Contacts Section) if you have not been given your child’s blood results within a week of their test.

If the results of further tests are still abnormal, your baby’s diagnosis may need to be assessed by the Paediatric Liver Team at Kings College Hospital or referred for additional tests. Our paediatrics team will discuss these options with you.

More information

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health information on jaundice www.what0-18.nhs.uk/worried-your-baby-unwell-under-3-months-2/worried-about-your-baby/jaundice
NHS information on newborn jaundice www.nhs.uk/conditions/jaundice-newborn/

Contacts

Paediatric Admin Team (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm)

020 8934 6403