Title: Newborn Screening Procedures | Baby's First Test | Newborn Screening | Baby Health
Headings: Screening Procedures
Your Baby’s Screening Screening Procedures
What are the screening procedures?
Blood Test:
Hearing Screen:
Pulse Oximetry Testing:
Why are all babies screened at birth?
Do parents have to ask for screening?
When does the screen happen?
How will parents find out the results?
How are screening costs covered?
Newborn Screening and Home Births
Newborn Screening for Preterm, Low Birth Weight, NICU or Sick Newborns
Newborn Screening and Adoption
Newborn Screening for Military Families
Additional Questions
Looking for more specific information?
Find a condition What your state offers

Content: To find contact information for your state's Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program, click here. Pulse Oximetry Testing: Pulse oximetry, or pulse ox, is a non-invasive
A medical test or procedure that does not require a doctor to insert any device through the skin or into a body opening
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, using a painless 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. Why are all babies screened at birth? Most babies are born healthy. However, some infants have a serious medical condition even though they look and act like all newborns. These babies generally come from families with no previous history of a condition.