6 newborn health worries – sorted!

Worried something is up with your new baby? We explain the most common health problems and what you should do about them

Yellow skin, gooey eyes and a raw bottom may not be among the characteristics you dreamt of for your new baby, but even the most beautiful of newborns will often arrive with minor health niggles. With the help of M&B expert and midwife Helen O’Dell, we’ve picked six of the most common newborn health concerns – and sorted them for you.

1  She’s turned yellow!

A newborn baby with a yellowish tinge to the skin may have jaundice. This common condition isn’t usually serious – it will probably resolve itself quite quickly, but your baby will need to be monitored until it clears up.

Jaundice is the result of a high level of a chemical called bilirubin in the blood, which causes the yellowness. If your baby is Afro-Caribbean, Asian or Oriental, she may just have yellowing of the whites of her eyes, palms of her hands and soles of her feet.

‘It can take a while for a newborn’s liver to break down the bilirubin,’ says Helen O’ Dell. If her jaundice is severe, or continues for longer than two weeks, treatment or further tests may be needed.

How to reduce jaundice

Exposure to sunlight is very beneficial to help your baby start breaking down the bilirubin. While you’re in hospital, she may receive phototherapy treatment, which involves placing her under bright flourescent lights for set periods until her jaundice starts to fade.

If you’re at home with your baby, there are certain things you can do to help:

• Feed her on demand – this will make her wee more, excreting waste products and helping to flush out her system.

• Breastfeed her if you can

• Expose her to as much daylight as possible – preferably with no clothes on. ‘But don’t leave her in direct sunlight because she can overheat or get sunburnt very quickly,’ says Helen.

2  She’s gone gooey-eyed

A slight yellowish or creamy discharge in her eyes may be a sign of infection caused by bacteria  picked up in the birth canal, or through poor hygiene. If you clean your baby’s eyes regularly, it should clear up within a couple of days. If it doesn’t, you need to consult your GP.

How to soothe sticky eyes

‘Bathing your baby’s eyes regularly with cooled, boiled water is the best way to deal with sticky eyes,’ says Helen. Wash your hands before you begin. Take a piece of clean cotton wool and dip it in the water. Squeeze it out, then wipe one eye from the inner to the outer corner.

Using a fresh piece of cotton wool, do the same with the other eye. Instead of water, you could use breastmilk as it contains powerful antibodies which help fight infection.

3 Her bottom’s raw

If your baby has nappy rash, you’ll notice small spots or red patches on her groin or bottom, which look sore and are sensitive to touch. Nappy rash is caused by bacteria from your baby’s stools releasing a chemical called ammonia, which irritates and burns the skin.

Changing her nappy frequently should control it, but if it doesn’t clear up within a week, your baby may have a yeast infection such as thrush, which turns the skin a more fiery red with a scaly edge. If this is the case, your doctor may need to prescribe a cream.

Nip nappy rash in the bud

•Change your baby’s nappies frequently, and as soon as they’re soiled. Even super-absorbent nappies should be changed as soon as you know they’re wet.

•Wipe and dry your baby’s bottom at each change. ‘Warm water and cotton wool is the best thing for cleaning sore bottoms, but always make sure your baby is completely dry before you put on her nappy,’ says Helen.

•When you can, leave your baby’s nappy off for a while (but lie her on a thick towel to absorb any accidents)

•Use zinc and caster oil cream to soothe the rash. Calendula cream is also effective.
•Try a different brand of nappies to see if it helps.

4 Her belly button’s leaking

Your baby’s cord stump, where her umbilical cord was attached to the placenta, should come away within the first week or so. The separation doesn’t hurt, and once it’s dropped off, the navel underneath should be healed.

The stump is usually quite sticky by the time it drops off, and it might leave a slight smear of blood on the cotton wool when you clean it, which is nothing to worry about.
Sometimes, however, a little piece of inflamed tissue remains in the navel and weeps. This common symptom is harmless, but your midwife or GP will need to treat it by touching it with a silver nitrate stick, to make it shrivel away. It’s a painless procedure. 

Stop the stickiness

If your baby’s cord stump is sticky, clean it gently with cotton wool and cooled, boiled water. A tiny amount of talcum powder dusted on with a cotton wool ball will help dry it, but don’t shake powder over your baby.

• Turn the top of your baby’s nappy down to keep the cord exposed to the air and clear of urine, to minimise infections.

• Don’t mess with or pull at the cord. It will come off when it’s ready.

• Speak to your midwife or doctor if you notice the cord is particularly sticky or weepy, if there’s redness in the skin around the navel, spots in the area or fresh drops of blood coming from the navel.

5 She keeps being sick

Almost all babies ‘posset’ or bring up some milk after a feed, especially when they’re being winded. This is completely normal, and the quantity of milk is usually very small, although it may look like a lot because it’s mixed with saliva. ‘Sicky’ babies may bring back milk at every feed in this way, but it’s rarely a problem.

True vomiting usually happens a while after feeding, and the milk will be curdled and may smell nasty. This can be caused by trapped air in your baby’s stomach, but if it happens frequently it can also be a sign of infection. If your baby seems unwell and has a fever or diarrhoea, consult your doctor immediately.

Projectile vomiting is when your baby is violently sick, spurting milk out with real force at the end of a feed. If she does this frequently, she may be losing nourishment, so do consult your doctor.

Sometimes projectile vomiting is a sign of pyloric stenosis, which is a fault in the muscles between the stomach and bowel. This can be corrected by a small operation. 

Help prevent possetting

If your baby is vomiting, you need to seek medical advice. But mild posseting can be eased by the following:

•Handle her gently after a feed – too much bouncing around can cause trapped air.

•If you’re bottle-feeding, hold the bottle upright to make sure the teat is always full of milk and doesn’t get filled with air.

•Don’t let her cry too much before a feed, to prevent her gulping in air.

6 Her nappy’s full of mustard!

You’ll spend so much time changing your new baby’s nappies, you may become a little preoccupied with their contents! Her first bowel movement will be meconium, a black tar-like substance.
After that, her stools will be runny and mustard yellow in colour. Breastfed babies tend to have runnier stools than bottle-fed babies. Some have only one or two bowel movements a day, while others fill their nappies after every feed.

If your baby has diarrhoea, her stools will be very liquid, may be green or contain mucus, and she may have soreness around her anus.

This is usually caused by an infection, and needs treatment. Speak to your doctor immediately, because young babies can become dehydrated very quickly.

Dealing with diarrhoea

•Seek advice from your doctor.

•Feed your baby as normal as she’ll need plenty of fluids.

•Get into the habit of washing your hands thoroughly after changing her nappy to avoid spreading infection.

•Cooled, boiled water can sometimes be offered in addition to normal feeds, but only on the advice of your midwife or doctor.