Dear fellow Lactnetters, I realize its been over a week since the small discussion on jaundice, but I had been without my computer since it blew up a couple weeks ago, and have just now caught up on my reading. Normal physiologic jaundice is such a common 'problem' that it really bothers me that when a healthy baby is jaundice, we automatically treat them as if they are ill (i.e., drawing blood at frequent intervals, stopping breastfeeding and giving formula, phototherapy, hospitalizing the baby). I saw Dr. Lawrence Gartner speak at a conference a few years ago, and he said something very thought provoking. He said bilirubin is an antioxidant, and there is a theory that this elevated bilirubin level may actually be a protective mechanism for the baby. It would make perfect sense. Just the fact that breastfed babies have higher bilirubin levels than formula-fed babies should give us a clue that normal newborn jaundice may not actually be a problem. Afterall, nature intended for babies to receive breastmilk, not formula. And, as far as I know, those studies done on jaundice and kernicterus were done on sickly, premature babies, not on healthy, full-term babies. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) Respectfully, Arleta de Dianous, MSN, CPNP, CLE Normal, IL Mother of 4 1/2 yr. old identical twin boys and 20 month old identical twin girls. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos -- now, 100 FREE prints! http://photos.yahoo.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html