Immediately after your baby is born, your delivery team performs newborn screenings (typically three tests) to assess your baby’s health during the first day of life. These help determine if your baby has any potential serious health issues right after birth. If a condition or abnormality is discovered, your health team can treat the issue right away, reducing or event preventing future health problems.
These screenings include:
- Blood test to evaluate whether or not your baby needs additional tests
- Hearing test to check for hearing loss
- Critical congenital heart defects (CCHD) test to identify any potential heart problems.
Newborn screening tests are completely safe and pose no risks to your baby, aside from brief discomfort when the provider pricks your baby’s skin during the blood test.
Your baby won’t need any additional tests if the screening results are negative. For out-of-normal range results, your baby may need the test again to rule out a false positive. Your doctor may recommend additional tests to confirm a diagnosis and provide a personalized plan for treatment.