# Newborn screening Care topic · id `maternal:newborn-screening` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Also called: Newborn screening tests; Heel-prick test Browse, life stage: Newborn Browse, care area: Newborn care ## In plain language Tests that every newborn is offered before going home: a few drops of blood from the heel, a hearing test and a skin test of blood oxygen. They look for serious conditions that can be treated early. A screening test does not diagnose a problem; if it is positive, more testing follows. ## Technical summary MedlinePlus lists the heel-prick blood tests, the hearing test and the oxygen skin test. NICHD says US programmes screen about 4 million infants a year and that each state decides which conditions it screens for. In 2006 an expert panel commissioned by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau from the American College of Medical Genetics named 29 conditions that every state programme should screen for, and 25 more; NICHD now says a government committee recommends more than 30 core and 26 secondary conditions. Which conditions a given state tests for is not recorded here. ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Newborn babies in general (MedlinePlus and NICHD health information) Recipient: Newborn; Population: Newborn babies. The sources set no limits of gestational age, birth weight or setting.; Care setting: Not stated in the source.; Geography: United States programmes are described by NICHD; MedlinePlus names no country.; Life stage: Newborn period; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable: general health information. ### A 2006 expert panel, set up by the American College of Medical Genetics at the request of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, named 29 conditions that every state programme should screen for. It listed 25 more that are not core targets: conditions that can be mistaken for a core one, serious conditions with no proven treatment, and findings that turn up by chance. The panel's aim was one recommended panel of conditions for state programmes. NICHD now says a government committee of experts recommends screening for more than 30 core and 26 secondary conditions, and that each state decides which conditions it screens for. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Guidance - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Newborn; Population: Newborn babies. The sources set no limits of gestational age, birth weight or setting.; Care setting: Not stated in the source.; Geography: United States programmes are described by NICHD; MedlinePlus names no country.; Life stage: Newborn period; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable: general health information. - Limitations: The 2006 panel report is old and the panel list has since changed, as the NICHD figures show. The source article states no Creative Commons licence and this atlas treats it as cite only, so the statement is in the atlas's own words. Only the abstract and the PMC executive summary were read. - Last checked: Not recorded - Sources: 1. Supports: Newborn screening: toward a uniform screening panel and system (Publication, edition PubMed record plus the PMC Open Access copy (PMC3111605, headed Executive Summary). The PMC metadata states no Creative Commons licence.) Locator: Abstract, sentences 1 to 3. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:23:59Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 2d742f60453951df0599b5810645e0b920c40bd21b4e2be8f01f8f0c0bdae04d. How it applies: The 2006 panel and its conditions. 2. Background: Newborn screening: toward a uniform screening panel and system (Publication, edition PubMed record plus the PMC Open Access copy (PMC3111605, headed Executive Summary). The PMC metadata states no Creative Commons licence.) Locator: Journal, JournalIssue (Volume, Issue, PubDate). Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:23:59Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 2d742f60453951df0599b5810645e0b920c40bd21b4e2be8f01f8f0c0bdae04d. How it applies: Year of the panel report. 3. Supports: Newborn Screening (NICHD health topic page) (Webpage, edition Page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mh-nichd-newborn.html). The page lists its content owner as the NICHD Office of Communications and a last reviewed date of 9/1/2017.) Locator: General Information, What disorders are newborns screened for in the United States?. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:24:18Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 493bccf117dac3714f8114b33280c59e17c93f9b70cf03deb3cf5e313a5bc513. How it applies: The current NICHD description of the recommended conditions. ### MedlinePlus says every newborn has screening tests before leaving hospital and that the tests can differ by state. NICHD says US programmes screen about 4 million infants each year, that screening detects treatable disorders so that treatment can begin early, that babies have a heel stick in the first 24 to 48 hours, and that screening tests do not diagnose a problem but show that one might exist. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Evidence stage not applicable - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Newborn; Population: Newborn babies. The sources set no limits of gestational age, birth weight or setting.; Care setting: Not stated in the source.; Geography: United States programmes are described by NICHD; MedlinePlus names no country.; Life stage: Newborn period; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable: general health information. - Limitations: Consumer and agency health information, not a trial. The NICHD page lists a last reviewed date of 9/1/2017, so its figures may have changed. The conditions screened for differ by state. - Last checked: Not recorded - Sources: 1. Supports: Newborn Screening (NICHD health topic page) (Webpage, edition Page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mh-nichd-newborn.html). The page lists its content owner as the NICHD Office of Communications and a last reviewed date of 9/1/2017.) Locator: Introduction and General Information. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:24:18Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 493bccf117dac3714f8114b33280c59e17c93f9b70cf03deb3cf5e313a5bc513. How it applies: NICHD description of the programme. 2. Supports: Newborn Screening (MedlinePlus health topic) (Webpage, edition Health topic page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mh-medlineplus-newbornscreening.html). Only the summary text is used.) Locator: Summary, paragraph 1. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:24:17Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: a0a9fa87987acdee782d566b48840d1a68724f592ce27654b780ea5065a6e3bc. How it applies: MedlinePlus summary of the tests. ## Connected pages - MedlinePlus health information on this subject: MedlinePlus (`core:medlineplus`) - Routine newborn checks: Care of the newborn in the first days (`maternal:essential-newborn-care`) - Filed under this front: Screening and tests (`maternal:front-screening-and-tests`) - Related to: Newborn hearing screening (`maternal:newborn-hearing-screening`) - Related to: Pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease (`maternal:pulse-oximetry-cchd-screening`) ## Provenance Content hash: 8f83865376dc5daffaf41a1172233e81a3cef1af03d9d625236ec07824f8222a Last substantive edit: 2026-10-14 Evidence last checked: Not recorded