Maternal & Newborn Atlas
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Newborn screening

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.

Also called Newborn screening tests · Heel-prick test

  • Care topic
  • In this atlas

Overview

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.

Scope

Screening tests offered to every newborn before leaving hospital: the heel-prick blood spot, the hearing test and pulse-oximetry screening for heart defects

Life stages
  • newborn
Care setting
Not reported

Claims and evidence

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.
Eligibility: 1 inclusion criterion; exclusion criteria not stated
Included
  • Newborn babies
Excluded
None stated

  • Description Guidance Certainty not assessed

    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.

    Applies to Newborn
    • Newborn babies. The sources set no limits of gestational age, birth weight or setting.
    • Not stated in the source.
    • United States programmes are described by NICHD; MedlinePlus names no country.
    • Newborn period
    • Gestational age Not reported
    • Postnatal age Not reported
    Follow-up Not applicable: general health information.
    Certainty method
    Not assessed
    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
    Next evidence check due
    Not scheduled
    Sources and citations (3)

    1. Supports Newborn screening: toward a uniform screening panel and system

      Publication · Genetics in Medicine (American College of Medical Genetics) · Edition PubMed record plus the PMC Open Access copy (PMC3111605, headed Executive Summary). The PMC metadata states no Creative Commons licence. · DOI: 10.1097/01.gim.0000223891.82390.ad · PMID: 16783161 · PMCID: PMC3111605

      Locator
      Abstract, sentences 1 to 3
      How it applies
      The 2006 panel and its conditions.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      2d742f60453951df0599b5810645e0b920c40bd21b4e2be8f01f8f0c0bdae04d
      Reuse basis
      The PMC article states no Creative Commons licence and the PubMed abstract may carry publisher copyright, so only the hashes of both fetches are kept. Public pages cite this source and state its facts in the atlas own words, with no quoted span (cite_only).

    2. Background Newborn screening: toward a uniform screening panel and system

      Publication · Genetics in Medicine (American College of Medical Genetics) · Edition PubMed record plus the PMC Open Access copy (PMC3111605, headed Executive Summary). The PMC metadata states no Creative Commons licence. · DOI: 10.1097/01.gim.0000223891.82390.ad · PMID: 16783161 · PMCID: PMC3111605

      Locator
      Journal, JournalIssue (Volume, Issue, PubDate)
      How it applies
      Year of the panel report.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      2d742f60453951df0599b5810645e0b920c40bd21b4e2be8f01f8f0c0bdae04d
      Reuse basis
      The PMC article states no Creative Commons licence and the PubMed abstract may carry publisher copyright, so only the hashes of both fetches are kept. Public pages cite this source and state its facts in the atlas own words, with no quoted span (cite_only).

    3. Supports Newborn Screening (NICHD health topic page)

      Webpage · Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH · 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?
      How it applies
      The current NICHD description of the recommended conditions.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      493bccf117dac3714f8114b33280c59e17c93f9b70cf03deb3cf5e313a5bc513
      Reuse basis
      NICHD states that most text on its website is in the public domain and not subject to copyright, and asks for the credit line Courtesy: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD website copyright and reuse notice, fetched as mh-nichd-disclaimer.html, sha256 08010c9291ae905c92c643e1625556614b3f7e6da0a7fd7b20af1781b66b3adf). Images and logos are not reused. The page bytes are not committed.

  • Description Evidence stage not applicable Certainty not assessed

    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.

    Applies to Newborn
    • Newborn babies. The sources set no limits of gestational age, birth weight or setting.
    • Not stated in the source.
    • United States programmes are described by NICHD; MedlinePlus names no country.
    • Newborn period
    • Gestational age Not reported
    • Postnatal age Not reported
    Follow-up Not applicable: general health information.
    Certainty method
    Not assessed
    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
    Next evidence check due
    Not scheduled
    Sources and citations (2)

    1. Supports Newborn Screening (NICHD health topic page)

      Webpage · Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH · 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
      How it applies
      NICHD description of the programme.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      493bccf117dac3714f8114b33280c59e17c93f9b70cf03deb3cf5e313a5bc513
      Reuse basis
      NICHD states that most text on its website is in the public domain and not subject to copyright, and asks for the credit line Courtesy: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD website copyright and reuse notice, fetched as mh-nichd-disclaimer.html, sha256 08010c9291ae905c92c643e1625556614b3f7e6da0a7fd7b20af1781b66b3adf). Images and logos are not reused. The page bytes are not committed.

    2. Supports Newborn Screening (MedlinePlus health topic)

      Webpage · MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine · Edition Health topic page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mh-medlineplus-newbornscreening.html). Only the summary text is used.

      Locator
      Summary, paragraph 1
      How it applies
      MedlinePlus summary of the tests.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      a0a9fa87987acdee782d566b48840d1a68724f592ce27654b780ea5065a6e3bc
      Reuse basis
      Summaries on MedlinePlus health topic pages are in the public domain, per the MedlinePlus page Linking to and Using Content from MedlinePlus (fetched 2026-10-14 as mh-medlineplus-usingcontent.html, sha256 31267ce9db016893b80c5665312d92ffc8c34ec86916f84708c353936ba52228). The page bytes are not committed. The credit line is Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Medical Encyclopedia articles (/ency/) and drug monographs are licensed content and are not used.

Record details

Record id
maternal:newborn-screening
Content hash
8f83865376dc5daffaf41a1172233e81a3cef1af03d9d625236ec07824f8222a