Does a baby s yellow skin color need incubation?
Patient: doc if the baby had a blood enfection after he admit in 1 week in the hospital then now the blood infection is clear but now the doctor said the baby nid to put in incubator because of the yellow color of the skin i dont know if its true i nid a second opinion. its that posible? Doctor: Hi thanks for the question. I assume that your baby is more then a week old . Most of the babies have yellow discolouration of skin and sclera during the first few days of life . This is called physiological jaundice and it subsides on it's own without any intervention. This is a normal phenomenon as a result of transition from fetal to extrauterine life. You should be aware when jaundice is a cause of concern: 1. If jaunduce appears on first day of life2. If the level of bilirubin  is more then 12mg/dl. Bilirubin is the substance that causes the yellow coloration of skin . It's  level can be checked with a blood test .3. If the the rise in bilirubin level is more then 5mg/dl/hr. For this your doctor my prescribe repeated test and then plot the levels on a graph to predict the expected rise in bilirubin.4. If 'direct ' bilirubin is more the 2mg/dl or 20% of the total. Bilirubin is of two types physiological jaundice is due to the water insoluble ' indirect' bilirubin so if ' direct  component is high it means it's not physiological and should be a cause for concern. The direct and indirect breakage is given in the blood test. 5. If your baby is otherwise unwell e.g is lethargic, is not feeding well, has fever or difficulty breathing then it's not physiological jaundice because in that case your baby will be otherwise totally ok.You have asked if your baby needs incubator care. Incubators are for premature babies who can not maintain their body temperatures as they have arrived earlier and temperature control mechanisms have not yet been established. The incubator provides specific temperature. Incubators are not used for the treatment of any type of jaundice. Phototherapy is used for that. These are specially lights that convert the indirect water insoluable bilirubin into water soluable forms that can then be excreted out through urine . As i have told high levels of direct bilirubin are a cause of concern and these need treatment with a phototherapy unit . Your doctor may prescribe phototherapy if your child has any of the criteria i have mentioned earlier but incubator care is not needed as your baby is not premature and is at least older then a week. If you have any other questions i will be happy to answer.