Parents are going to be over-the-moon happy when there’s a newborn addition to their family, and it’s natural to wish that there’s nothing that takes away from their joy and enthusiasm. If there’s any suspicion that the baby is not in good health, then unfortunately that’s just what happens. Instead of their happiness going that way it’s their anxiety that is immediately going through the roof, and hopefully those fears can be dispelled as soon as possible. This is going to be true for the possibility of thrombocytopenia in newborn infants too. 

If you’re not familiar with the condition it is when bone marrow doesn’t function properly and produces the required amount of platelets for blood in the body. People can develop thrombocytopenia at any age, but with newborns it is going to be neonatal thrombocytopenia that is a possibility and something to be concerned about. Newborn babies always receive more than a few types of tests and exams to screen against health concerns right after they’re born, and polymerase chain reaction test are one of the ones a newborn baby may receive.  

If within 72 hours the baby’s platelet counts are down considerably then this is the criteria for diagnosing neonatal thrombocytopenia. However, the good news for the little one and their parents is going to be that this condition usually resolves itself and there’s no need to jump to conclusions and think that the baby is going to be suffering from a serious disorder as they start their life. That’s important to know with thrombocytopenia in newborn infants. Pediatricians have plenty of experience in putting the parents at ease with this stuff, and that’s a darn good thing too.  

Late / Bulky is Better

Petechiae is a word you won’t come across very often unless you’re a dermatologist or aiming to be a spelling bee champion one day. But it’s a term for bruising and small red spots on the skin. The reason we mention this in our look at thrombocytopenia in newborn infants is because petechiae is one of the signs of a low blood platelets count that doctors may be looking for with newborns. Seeing jaundice (yellowing) of eyes may also be a means of tipping them off to the possibility of this. Be aware that neonatal thrombocytopenia is something that doesn’t happen often with newborns, but when it does it is more often with babies that are born very prematurely and have a very low birth weight.  

So, if a woman gives birth to a baby that is around that standard 3 to 3.5kg body weight and around or after their due date it’s unlikely to be an instance of alloimmune thrombocytopenia in newborn infants. That will be a nice reassurance for both Mom and Dad, and rather than fretting over it they can start to debate who’s eyes the little one has or whether it might be time to start on Wegovy to get a jump start on getting rid of that baby weight.