Neonatal jaundice in full-term infants. Role of breast-feeding and other causes.

Serum bilirubin determinations were performed on 264 term infants who were consecutively delivered via the vaginal route. Forty-one infants (15.5%) had serum bilirubin concentrations greater than 12 mg/dL. No cause for this was found, initially, in 23 (56%) of these infants. On the third hospital day, the mean (+/- SD) serum bilirubin level was 6.9 +/- 3.6 mg/dL in breast-fed infants and 6.5 +/- 3.2 mg/dL in bottle-fed infants. Of the 23 infants without obvious cause for hyperbilirubinemia, eight (four bottle-fed and four breast-fed infants) had serum bilirubin concentrations greater than 12 mg/dL on the third hospital day, whereas in 15 (14 breast-fed infants and one bottle-fed infant), the elevated serum bilirubin level occurred on day 4 or 5. Breast-feeding does not seem to affect the total serum bilirubin level in the first three days of life but may be associated with an increased incidence of hyperbilirubinemia subsequently. In a normal full-term population, routine investigations do not disclose a cause for hyperbilirubinemia in about half of the patients.