What is the reason for the yellow-green stool of the newborn baby?

As an obstetrician and gynecologist, I come into contact with new parents and newborns on a daily basis. Therefore, I have more experience in dealing with some issues concerning newborns and helping these parents take care of their children. What is the reason for the yellow-green stools in newborns? Countless parents have asked me this question, and since everyone has this blind spot in knowledge, I will tell you all of my knowledge.

What is the reason for the yellow-green stools in newborns? Normal baby stool is yellow or brown, soft or mushy. The hardness of stool is related to the frequency of bowel movements in children's diet. Breastfed babies have 2-7 bowel movements a day, which are yellow, creamy and may contain milk lumps. Milk-fed babies have 1-2 bowel movements a day, which are light yellow and hard. After adding complementary foods, such as green leafy vegetables, they may have green stools, but after eating animal liver or taking iron supplements, their stools will be black. Occasionally there may be undigested melon seeds, vegetable leaves, soybeans, corn, etc. in the baby's stool, but this is normal as long as the amount is not large.

White stools accompanied by yellowing and itching of the whole body are manifestations of bile duct obstruction; green loose stools are often caused by food diarrhea caused by cold or improper addition of complementary foods in infants; dark red stools like red bean soup with a foul odor are hemorrhagic necrotizing enteritis; jam-colored stools are intussusception or amoebic dysentery; tarry black stools can be diagnosed as upper gastrointestinal bleeding after excluding taking iron supplements and eating large amounts of animal liver blood; stools with bright red blood are caused by rectal or anal bleeding diseases. If the baby's stool becomes increasingly sour and smelly and contains more foam, it is caused by excessive fermentation due to excessive sugar or starch in the diet that cannot be completely digested and absorbed; if the stool suddenly becomes foul-smelling, such as a rotten egg smell, it is caused by an excessive proportion of protein in the diet; fishy and greasy stools are caused by excessive fat diet; foul-smelling stools with large amounts and weight loss in children are manifestations of intestinal malabsorption syndrome; severely fishy stools caused by intestinal cancer are extremely rare in infants.

What is the reason for the yellow-green stools in newborns? After understanding the situation, many new parents breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the situation is not particularly serious, there is no need to worry too much. However, parents still cannot take it lightly. They should take their children for consultation to see if there is something wrong with their children's body and believe in the effectiveness of scientific treatment.