Discovered Light Therapy as a Jaundice Treatment
In the 1950s, Sister Jean Ward discovered that light exposure led to improved health for premature babies. Ward was the charge nurse of the premature nursery at Rochford General Hospital in Essex, England.
At the time, newborns and infants who were diagnosed with jaundice were treated through the transfusing blood over a period of several hours. Ward believed there was a different way to treat jaundice.
Since Ward believed fresh air and sunshine were better for infants than incubators, she would wheel infants outside on warm days.
When Ward did this, she saw that the infants' jaundice improved after exposure to sunlight. Ward presented her observations to doctors at the hospital, hypothesizing that sunlight was a viable treatment for newborn jaundice.
The doctors were surprised to see that the infants' skin had faded. Shortly after this presentation, it was proven that exposure to light (aka phototherapy) did, in fact, help to reverse the condition. The treatment is now standard protocol in neonatal care facilities across the world.
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