Reading on the web...

Breastfeeding:

I have been reading about breastfeeding lately. It's in preparation to what to expect during breastfeeding, so I will not get post-natal blues due to this. Babies are born to breastfeed. And there are lots of advantages of it.

Some of the websites that I am reading and found them useful:
http://www.4woman.gov/pub/BF.General.pdf
http://www.breastfeeding.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=4&id=22&Itemid=38
http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/


Jaundice:

In Singapore, almost all my friends' babies whom I have met will be admitted to the hospital for photo-therapy, as recommended by the paediatrician during the initial check-up. When I asked my mum and my cousins, it does not seem very common that baby will be admitted to the hospital for jaundice in Malaysia. From my search, every babies will have jaundice. Jaundice occurs when bilirubin in the bloodstream is produced in greater quantities than an infant’s liver can process and eliminate. I start to wonder whether it's the service of the paediatrician too good in Singapore. The cost of baby getting admitted for jaundice is about S$500 per nite. What my cousins did was to carry their babies under the morning sun daily. Last time, only my brother had jaundice and the confinement lady just use a herbs boiled in water to bath my brother. The herb is "ooi kee ji" in hokkien. This herb when boiled in water will make the water orangey-yellow. Someone told me to get this herb and both baby at birth as soon as baby is discharged from hospital.

I am also reading more about jaundice. So far, I read about baby's jaundice and it will peak at between 3rd to 5th day after birth and the level will start to drop. Sometimes hormones passing through the breast milk can cause jaundice. Breast milk jaundice usually occurs 5 to 10 days after the birth and can last several weeks. Most babies will have "physiologic" jaundice, which is normal and harmless, as long as the bilirubin count doesn't reach dangerous levels.

Bilirubin is measured in milligrams per deciliter of blood, or mg/dl. The average level for an adult is 1mg/dl. The average full-term newborn will have a peak level of 6mg/dl on the third or fourth day of life. Levels usually go down to about 2 to 3mg/dl by the end of the first week, gradually reaching the adult value of 1mg/dl by the end of the second week. It usually takes the newborn's liver a week or two to mature enough to handle the build-up of bilirubin in the blood. It is important to know that there is no evidence that bilirubin levels of less than 20mg/dl during the first week of life, and less than 25mg/sl after that have any harmful effects of healthy, full-term babies. (Quoted from http://pregnancyandbaby.com/read/articles/363.htm)

It is also thought that cutting the umbilical cord immediately, rather than waiting for the blood to stop pulsating increases the risk of jaundice. (Quoted from http://www.ninemonths.com.au)