The home care nurse notes jaundice on the skin over the sternum of a 3-day-old infant. What should the nurse explain to the parents about this finding?
1. "The liver of an infant is not fully mature and does not conjugate the bilirubin for excretion."
2. "The yellow color of your baby's skin indicates that you are breastfeeding too often."
3. "This is an abnormal finding related to your baby's bowels not excreting bilirubin as they should."
4. "The infant received too many red blood cells after delivery because the cord was not clamped immediately."
1
Explanation:
1. Physiologic jaundice is a common occurrence and peaks on day 3 or 4.
2. Frequent feeding will decrease jaundice.
3. Bilirubin binds to the proteins in breast milk and formula for excretion through the bowels.
4. It happens in part because of the red blood cell destruction that infants experience combined with liver immaturity, which leads to less efficient conjugation of bilirubin for excretion.
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