It’s amazing how many medical issues can be identified and treated when newborn babies receive thee important screening tests within 24 hours of their birth. I didn’t know much about these when I had Rissa. I do recall her having a heel stick (where they pricked her heel for a blood sample) and a hearing test in the middle of the night. But those are only two I know for sure she received.
The 3 Most Important Tests Every Baby Should Have
- Heel Stick
- Hearing Test
- Pulse Oximetry
After spending time reading Cora’s Story and learning from Baby’s First Test about the importance (and easiness) of a pulse oximetry test to detect heart conditions, I am going to be requesting it for baby boy. The other two have become pretty standard and are performed routinely at the hospital I’m giving birth at, but pulse PC is not standard yet (though it should be).
September is Newborn Screening Awareness Month, so I wanted to encourage you to check out the free resources offered by Baby’s First Test.
What screenings did your babies get?
Darcy is the founder of “Life With Darcy and Brian,” where she combines her love for education, board games, and crafting to create engaging learning experiences for kids. Her creative projects and writing have been featured in outlets like The Toy Insider, CafeMom, Mom.com, Parents.com, Country Living, and The Pioneer Woman.