Jaundice and breastfeeding.

Optimal management of breastfeeding does not eliminate neonatal jaundice and elevated serum bilirubin concentrations. Rather, it leads to a pattern of hyperbilirubinemia that is normal and, possibly, beneficial to infants. Excessive frequency of exaggerated jaundice in a hospital or community population of breastfed infants may be a warning that breastfeeding policies and support are not ideal for the establishment of good breastfeeding practices. The challenge to clinicians is to differentiate normal patterns of jaundice and hyperbilirubinemia from those that indicate an abnormality or place an infant at risk.