September is Newborn Screening Awareness Month
Four million babies are born in the United States every year. While most babies are healthy, some are born with serious but treatable medical conditions. Babies with these conditions often appear healthy at birth. Newborn screenings help to identify these disorders early. New York State’s Newborn Screening Program covers more than 40 conditions. The screening uses only a few drops of blood from the baby’s heel to test for sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Krabbe disease, and many other disorders. Early detection and diagnosis of these disorders leads to early treatment and better health outcomes. In addition, a hearing exam is performed to identify any congenital hearing loss and a non-invasive pulse oximetry screening is conducted to identify critical congential heart defects. Newborn screening results are not a diagnosis, but they let health care providers and parents know that more testing is needed. It’s important to note that most babies will not have any of these disorders, but the goal of screening is to help babies and families affected by these conditions. If your baby’s […]
