The influence of the basal yellow colour of the skin at birth on later jaundice meter readings in mature newborn infants.

The yellow colour of the skin was measured just after birth in 100 mature newborns using a jaundice meter. The skin colour was significantly correlated to the cord bilirubin concentration (rho = 0.26, p = 0.009), but unrelated to cord reserve albumin concentration, cord albumin concentration, cord haemoglobin concentration, birth weight and gestational age. In 123 other mature newborns, the basal yellow colour of the skin was estimated on the basis of meter readings taken just after birth. Correction of meter readings taken on the third postnatal day for the basal yellow skin colour improved neither the correlation between the meter readings and the bilirubin concentration nor the ability of the meter readings to predict hyperbilirubinaemia.