About the education tab | Yellow Alert campaign - Jaundice in newborn babies

CLDF’s Yellow Alert prolonged jaundice awareness campaign promotes the early diagnosis and appropriate referral of liver disease in newly born infants.   

It is vital that liver disease is identified and treated as early as possible.  The Yellow Alert campaign aims to raise awareness of the action which should be taken if a baby has prolonged jaundice, both amongst both community healthcare professionals and new parents / parents to be.

Information on jaundice in babies can be found here.

CLDF has distributed hundreds of Yellow Alert packs and undertaken a variety of media activity to raise awareness of Yellow Alert’s key messages:

• Prolonged jaundice can be a sign of liver disease and is defined as jaundice persisting beyond two weeks of age in a term baby and three weeks in a pre-term baby

• Persistently pale coloured stools may indicate liver disease – healthy coloured stools can be described as English mustard yellow in bottle fed babies and daffodil yellow in breast fed babies

• A baby’s urine should be colourless – urine that is anything other than colourless could be a possible sign of liver disease

• Babies with prolonged jaundice and / or persistently pales stools / urine which is anything other than colourless must urgently be referred for a special blood test called a split bilirubin blood test to rule out potentially life threatening liver disease

Campaign materials

Yellow Alert is supported by a range of campaign materials.

Please click on the relevant link to download a PDF of the item.  However, please note that digital printing of the stool colour chart featured  in all the materials will result in alterations to colour and you are therefore strongly advised to order printed sets from CLDF.)

For parents and parents to be

Baby jaundice leaflet for parents - 'Jaundice in the new born baby'.  Please visit the literature section under the publications tab to place an order for this leaflet.

For healthcare professionals

Community healthcare provessional's pack which includes: 

Jaundice Protocol 

Stool colour book mark Please note - the colours on the Stool colour book mark may be altered when viewed on screen or printed on a desktop printer. To view the most accurate colours please order a book mark by post. Click here to order.

Poster (for surgeries and clinics)

Baby jaundice leaflet for parents  

CLDF is able to provide multiple copies of the parents baby jaundice leaflet and the poster for use in antenatal classes.  Contact the CLDF office to place an order. 

For any queries about the Yellow Alert campaign, please email yellowalert@childliverdisease.org

Recent campaign developments

A recent success has been the acceptance of the prolonged jaundice protocol in ‘Guidelines’ – an important tool used by GP’s.  The resource is available on-line and gives GP’s guidance on what to do in a number of conditions and disease presentations, with updates sent via a handbook.  This means that a GP who is unfamiliar with prolonged jaundice may consult Guidelines and access the protocol.  This is very encouraging and a real success for CLDF.  But work to promote the protocol and incorporate it into the PCT care pathway will continue. 

CLDF is also continuing to work towards the adoption of the protocol amongst Primary Care Trusts (PCT). 

What limits the Yellow Alert campaign is money.  So, if you’re passionate about this subject, please do consider fundraising or giving a donation. 

The Yellow Alert campaign is endorsed by:

• British Association for Community Child Health (BACCH).
• British Association Perinatal Medicine (BAPM)
• British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (BSPGHAN)
• Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA)
• Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP); Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
• Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH)

For any queries about the Yellow Alert campaign, please email yellowalert@childliverdisease.org

 * All Yellow Alert items are under copyright to CLDF*

Jaundice in babies