Newborn Care

Your baby should have the first office check-up at 3 or 5 days of age. You
will be seen in the hospital by the doctor assigned for hospital rounds. You
should schedule your first office visit as directed by that doctor. It may be
the next day following discharge or up to 5 days later depending on the
length of your hospital stay and presence of jaundice or feeding problems.
After discussion with the doctor in the hospital, please call the office for an
appointment.
Along with the check-up examination we will want to discuss your baby's
growth, development and the many interesting things that you can expect
your baby to do within the next few months.
Be sure to bring along extra diapers and a bottle of formula (if bottle
feeding) when you come to the office.

IMMUNIZATIONS
Immunizations (baby shots) are very important and it is highly
recommended that your baby receive Hepatitis B vaccine while still in the
hospital. Your baby will then receive the first “set” of immunizations at 2
months of age. A complete immunization schedule will be given to you at
the first office check-up.
JAUNDICE
Jaundice is a condition that commonly occurs in newborn infants.
There may be yellowing to the skin and whites of the eyes.
Jaundice usually appears on the second or third day of life and often
disappears in about a week. As many as two-thirds of infants may have
jaundice because jaundice occurs when the liver is not fully mature. This condition is known as jaundice. More serious types of jaundice
can occur when the baby's blood type is different from the mothers. If
jaundice is more severe or if the level of bilirubin gets too high, treatment
will probably be necessary. A technique called phototherapy is used.
Phototherapy is a treatment using special light therapy. These lights hasten the removal of bilirubin from the
body. These high intensity lights are placed over the baby.
Sunlight or the lights you have at home DO NOT HAVE enough of the
correct intensity to help lower the bilirubin level. The phototherapy is
continued until the bilirubin drops to a safe level. The level is checked by
testing a sample of blood.