At birth, newborns gastrointestinal tract is sterile but bacteria may enter into the baby system within the first five hours or at most 24 hours after delivery. Most of the bacteria enter through the baby mouth from airborne sources. Others may be due to hospital beddings, sorroundings or when the baby come into contact with the mother breast.  However, not all bacterias are harmful and accumulation of bacteria in large intestine (the colon) is necessary to aid in digestion and synthesis of vitamin K which is importance for blood coagulation. 

 

Newborn Stool - Changes in Stool Pattern in Newborn

A newborn should be able to pass stool within the first 24 - 48 after birth. This first stool is known as meconium, composed of mucus, amniotic fluid, hormones and carbohydrates. It is usually sticky, blackish-greenish or tarlike with no odor. If a newborn has not passed any stool within 48 hours after delivery, there is a possibility of an underlying medical condition, such as imperforated anus, meconium ileus or bowel obstruction and further investigation is required.

 

Transitional Stool

Transitional stool usually appears two to three days after initiation of feeding. It is loose, greenish brownish to yellowish brownish but slightly less sticky than meconium and may contain some milk curds. It also resembles a diarrhea.

 

Milk Stool

Milk stool usually appears on the fourth day. If a baby is been fed with breast milk, he or she passes three to four stools in a day. The stool is light yellow or yellowish golden in color, pasty in consistency with a smell similar to the one of the sour milk (sweet smelling). In a formula fed baby, he or she passes two to three stools in a day. The stool is firmer in consistency and has a more offensive smell or noticeable odour compared with the stool of babies fed with breast milk.

 

Other Newborn Types of Stools

A jaundiced baby who is under a phototherapy passes bright green stool due to increased secretion of bilirubin while a baby born with an obstructed bile duct passes clay colored stool since the obstruction prevent the bile pigments from entering the gastrointestinal tract. Blood stained stool may indicate an anal injury or an anal fissure.

 

Black or  tarry stool may be due to a newborn having swallowed the maternal blood during the delivery or it would be due to intestinal bleeding. Loose, waterly stool or stool mixed with mucus may be due to lactose intolerance or a milk allergy or other medical conditions. This is the reason why knowing the different kinds of stool  that you should expect from a newborn is importance in order for you to be able to pinpoint a variation that may need further medical attention.