In honor of Newborn Screening (NBS) awareness month, I will be sharing a few stories about NBS as well as education material throughout the month. If you would like to contribute, please email me at: thecorbinstory@aol.com.
What is newborn screening?
Newborn screening is a series of tests that screen, or help determine, if your baby may have a certain disease or disorder. The tests are run using blood from the heel stick they give your baby soon after birth. Since most of the conditions they are testing for may not show symptoms or signs yet, as your baby is only a day or two old, the screening allows doctors to catch and identify a problem early so that treatment can be started if needed.
It is important to know that this screening is not a solid positive or negative. The screening shows if your baby is more likely to have a condition, that way a follow up test can be run that will tell you for sure if something is wrong and needs to be addressed.
Right now, screening is available for over 60 disorders, but not all states screen for everything. Every state is different as it is not mandated evenly through the country, but instead state by state. If you would like to see what your state screens for, visit Baby's First Test and click on your state to find out.
Each year, over 5,000 babies are born with a condition that is tested for during newborn screening. Most of those disorders do not show signs right away but could be lethal by the time symptoms occur. Thankfully, newborn screening is required to be run on every single newborn born in the United States so that those conditions can be treated before it is too late.
Have more questions? Please visit Baby's First Test to learn more about these life saving tests.
What is newborn screening?
Newborn screening is a series of tests that screen, or help determine, if your baby may have a certain disease or disorder. The tests are run using blood from the heel stick they give your baby soon after birth. Since most of the conditions they are testing for may not show symptoms or signs yet, as your baby is only a day or two old, the screening allows doctors to catch and identify a problem early so that treatment can be started if needed.
It is important to know that this screening is not a solid positive or negative. The screening shows if your baby is more likely to have a condition, that way a follow up test can be run that will tell you for sure if something is wrong and needs to be addressed.
Right now, screening is available for over 60 disorders, but not all states screen for everything. Every state is different as it is not mandated evenly through the country, but instead state by state. If you would like to see what your state screens for, visit Baby's First Test and click on your state to find out.
Each year, over 5,000 babies are born with a condition that is tested for during newborn screening. Most of those disorders do not show signs right away but could be lethal by the time symptoms occur. Thankfully, newborn screening is required to be run on every single newborn born in the United States so that those conditions can be treated before it is too late.
Have more questions? Please visit Baby's First Test to learn more about these life saving tests.
