Title: Screening Facts | Baby's First Test | Newborn Screening | Baby Health
Headings: Newborn Screening 101
About Newborn Screening Newborn Screening 101
What is newborn screening
Newborn screening is the process of testing newborn babies for some serious, but treatable, conditions. NBS can include a heel stick, hearing screen, and pulse oximetry. The conditions that newborn babies are screened for varies by state.
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Key Facts
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: My nurse said my baby needed a PKU test. Is a PKU test the same as newborn screening?
Q: Will the newborn screening blood test hurt my baby?
Q: Why are all babies screened at birth?
Q: Do parents have to ask for screening?
Today, EVERY baby can be screened.
Looking for more specific information?
Find a condition What your state offers

Content: can be offered to determine if the condition is truly present. Visit our testing outcomes page for more information. Key Facts
The conditions newborns are screened for differ in each state. Most states screen for 29 of the 35 conditions recommended by the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children. Although these conditions are rare, each year over 5,000 babies are identified with a newborn screening condition. There are three parts to newborn screening. A heel stick
When the baby's heel is pricked to collect a sample of blood for newborn screening
to collect a small blood sample
When blood is drawn from the human body in order to be tested for medical purposes
, pulse oximetry
Pulse oximetry, or pulse ox, is a painless, non-invasive test that measures how much oxygen is in the blood. Infants with heart problems may have low blood oxygen levels, and therefore, the pulse ox test can help identify babies that may have Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD). The test is done using a machine called a pulse oximeter, which is a sensor placed on the baby’s skin. The pulse ox test only takes a couple of minutes and is performed after the baby is 24 hours old and before he or she leaves the newborn nursery.