Kirsten, Quickly and off the top of my head Bilirubin is reabsorbed from the bowel raising bilirubin levels in the foetus but is cleared from the system by the placenta and the developing foetal liver etc. After birth the placenta is lost to the neonate making it solely responsible for its own clearance of bilirubin. The sooner mec is passed then this source of reabsorption is lost and this is one very important reason why early breastfeeding is so important. Can bilirubin levels rise enough from this source alone to make the baby jaundice in the first 24 hours? Possible but less likely than other reasons such as ABO which is more usual in the first 24 hours. Good source of info Blackburn & Loper (1992) Maternal. Fetal & neonata Physiology: A clinical perspective, Saunders
Andrea Quanchi -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
