Infant jaundice

Jaundice is a yellow discoloring of the skin, mucous membranes, and eyes, caused by too much bilirubin (a breakdown product of hemoglobin made by the liver) in the blood. Jaundice is a condition produced when excess amounts of bilirubin circulating in the blood stream dissolve in the subcutaneous fat (the layer of fat just beneath the skin), causing a yellowish appearance of the skin and the whites of the eyes.