Newborn Screening: The Tests Every Baby Has Before Leaving the Hospital

Before a newborn leaves the hospital, the baby has screening tests for serious medical conditions. Some of these conditions, left untreated, cause lifelong health problems; others can cause early death. Found early, they can be treated right away, before serious problems develop or become permanent.

The tests

Which tests are done can depend on the state you live in. They include:

• A heel-prick blood test. A few drops of blood from the baby's heel are tested for inherited disorders. Every state tests for at least 30 of them.
• A hearing test, which measures how the baby responds to sound.
• A skin test of blood oxygen, which can show whether the baby has a congenital heart defect.

If a screen is positive

If a screening test shows your baby might have a condition, the health care provider or the state health department will call you. Follow up quickly: further testing can confirm whether your baby has the condition, and if so, treatment should start right away.

Sources

• MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, "Newborn Screening," drawing on the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. https://medlineplus.gov/newbornscreening.html
• Rewritten in hubnx's own words.