Hi, Thanks for the query. There are so many cultural beliefs regarding pregnancy all over the world and they come from ancient times when knowledge regarding disease conditions was low. So people attributed things to any minor variation that may have been present apart from the routine. This is also one such belief. The causes of jaundice in newborn is most commonly due to destruction of red blood cells. When the baby is inside the uterus it has to suck oxygen from the mother. Hence nature created a mechanism whereby baby will get maximum oxygen by having a high hemoglobin while inside the uterus. When it comes into the world it starts to breath, so the extra hemoglobin and red blood cells that contain the hemoglobin are not needed and are destroyed. In the process of destruction, they release some substances that produce jaundice. This is a normal phenomenon. Sometimes the jaundice may be excessive as in incompatible blood groups of mother and baby where excess red blood cells are destroyed. This needs treatment, it is not much under our control to prevent this always. However some cases like in Rh negative blood group mothers, this may be prevented. This may cause jaundice to child inside the uterus. Other causes are problems in the babies liver or bile duct that causes early jaundice. I hope that you will understand the issue now. Cold water and environment are not related to jaundice in any way. Hope this satisfies your query. Thanks for using HCM. Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have. Dr Madhuri Bagde Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist