Many people wonder how many days meconium comes out in newborns. Let's figure it out in this article.
With the birth of a baby, the life of parents changes radically, and the well-being of the child and his he alth becomes the most important concern. Very often, young mothers do not know what condition is the norm for a newborn, and therefore they are constantly afraid of something. In order to be less nervous for no reason and at the same time not to miss the signs of the disease, it is necessary to study in advance the specific physiological processes of a newly born baby.
Good digestion
Baby's good digestion is closely related to his well-being and he alth. Where does it originate from? The stool of a child who has just been born undergoes changes and has several stages before it takes on the shape and color of the stool that we are used to seeing. It all starts with meconium. What is it? What aretiming of its appearance? And are there pathologies directly related to the passage of meconium?
What should baby's first chair look like?
Meconium is a special original feces, the one that comes out of the intestines in the form of bowel movements. According to its characteristics, meconium is significantly different from the future feces of the baby. It is very sticky, viscous, almost odorless, the color scheme is predominantly a deep dark green hue, reaching almost black (it should be said, mekonion means "poppy" in Greek).
The original feces and its composition are directly determined by intrauterine life, as a result of which fragments of bile, digested epithelial cells, prenatal hair, amniotic fluid, mucus in small quantities and, of course, water can be found in meconium.
Meconium sterility
It is generally accepted that the baby's stool is almost completely sterile in the first three to four hours after birth, later the intestinal flora, including the intestine itself, is colonized. But not so long ago, a group of Spanish scientists examined meconium and proved that lactobacilli are present in the first feces, as well as a number of intestinal microorganisms.
Indicators of the mass of meconium in newborns range from sixty to one hundred grams, its acidity is 6 pH.
When does meconium pass?
So, how long does it take for the body to get rid of the first portion of feces, processed by it? Normally, the excretion of its contents from the intestine is carried outon the first day, that is, from the third to the twentieth hours after birth. But on the second and third days, the stool is called transitional, because it includes the remains of meconium and digested pieces of incoming food - a mixture or colostrum. At first, individual impurities and streaks become noticeable in it, but then the child's stool gradually changes and becomes mushy or liquid yellow.
Is it possible to facilitate the release of meconium from the child's body? Yes, if from the very beginning the mother will apply it to the breast. You should know that the colostrum secreted in the first days of feeding is, in essence, thick mucus, which is saturated with nutrients and has a slight laxative effect. Babies who are breastfed in the early hours of their lives have a much easier time defecating.
How is meconium washed?
This is not easy to do. To wash the sticky consistency, running water alone is not enough. In order to solve the problem, you can use oil for newborns or a cream that is applied under the diaper. In this case, the matter will be significantly accelerated, and it will be possible to easily clean the baby’s tender ass with water or a damp cloth.
Characteristics of normal baby stools
So, how many days does meconium come out in newborns? By seven days after the birth of the child, his stool should already return to normal, that is, acquire a yellow color and a mushy consistency, but in fact there may be other options that are not related to deviations.
- Color. A newborn's stool can include all shades of yellow. It may also be greenish in color if there is a high degree of bilirubin. In addition, sour odor, green color and impurities can occur due to the immature nature of the digestive system and liver. All this refers to the variants of the norm and should eventually pass.
- Consistency. In a newborn, the stool can be both liquid and thick. It is considered normal in any case: if it is watery and leaves a yellow stain on the diaper and thick, reminiscent of sour cream in consistency.
- Impurity. Normally, a variety of streaks, impurities and lumps can be observed in the stool of a newborn. All this will resolve itself after the final adjustment of the digestive process.
- The frequency of bowel movements is the main reason why inexperienced mothers worry and break their heads. However, in fact, the frequency of stool is purely individual. Mostly in the first days of a baby’s life, his stool can be quite frequent, later it becomes more and more rare, and at the end of the first month it is completely established. Stool frequency is determined by intestinal motility, the specifics of food digestion, the presence of the necessary microflora in the body and a large number of other properties, therefore, normally, a newborn can have any frequency of bowel movements, but usually their number reaches five to ten during the day. The main indicator is the well-being of the child. If it's active,he is cheerful and eats breasts well, sleeps soundly, does not suffer from gaziki, then everything is in order with him, and such a frequency depends on his individual characteristics.
However, various pathological conditions are possible. Consider them.
Meconium ileus
Very rarely is meconium so viscous that it blocks the ileum. Such obstruction is due to the fact that there was a malfunction of the pancreas, which does not fully produce enzymes that help reduce the density of meconium. Mostly meconium ileus is associated with cystic fibrosis, that is, a serious hereditary disease that is accompanied by a defect in respiratory functions. Such a disease in prevalence occurs in one infant in twenty thousand.
It is very easy to recognize the symptoms that characterize meconium ileus: feces are absent on the first or second day, the stomach swells, accompanied by swelling of the epidermal integument surrounding it, the vomit contains an admixture of greenery and bile. But it can be difficult to accurately diagnose a pathology, often this happens already during the operating procedure. It is possible to talk about intestinal obstruction only after an x-ray with a suspension of barium.
At first, they try to help the baby and put an enema, for example, with a three percent solution of pancreatin, due to which the feces are rarefied. In the absence of the desired effect from such procedures, intervention is required.operational.
Meconium aspiration occurs.
Aspiration syndrome
Another problem is related to this condition, when meconium enters the baby's lungs. This can happen before childbirth, and during them. So, in the amniotic fluid, meconium is found in the case of a pregnancy. If labor activity is delayed, there is always a risk of developing asphyxia or hypoxia. Such conditions are extremely terrible, since the carbon dioxide accumulated in the circulatory system irritates the brain respiratory centers, reflexively the child takes the first breath already in the womb, and therefore there is a danger of swallowing water. When contaminated with meconium, it penetrates the respiratory organs, and this can cause severe pneumonia.
If a newborn has swallowed clean or contaminated water, they clean his airways and then carefully monitor his condition to exclude the development of pneumonia or start treating it in time.
Thus, the state of meconium is a very important sign of the he alth of the baby. Most often, no problems arise with it, only in rare cases resuscitation may be required to restore the respiratory or digestive functions of the crumbs.
Now we know how much meconium passes in newborns.
