If my baby is jaundiced, does it mean he/she has liver disease? Jaundice develops when blood contains an excess of bilirubin — a pigment produced during the normal breakdown of red blood cells. Many babies have “newborn jaundice” lasting three to five days after birth because the liver is not fully developed. The newborn liver cannot remove bilirubin from the blood effectively enough. With newborn jaundice, the colour of the urine and stools is normal.
