A Clinician's Guide to Newborn Screening

Newborn screening involves a specialized collection of point-of-care tests and laboratory assessments that are conducted on newborn infants for discovering clinically occult but potentially serious illnesses, which requires immediate intervention. Furthermore, newborn screening can also consist of skin-to-skin contact between the newborn and the mother, newborn examination, safe-sleep principles, newborn mental health issues, etc. It encompasses various processes such as diagnostic testing, parental education, disease management, follow-up and continuous assessment. The most important aspect of newborn screening is collecting a blood sample to test for hematologic, inheritable, metabolic and endocrine disorders. The targets of newborn screening usually comprise of those medical conditions, which will result in significant intellectual disability, mortality and morbidity without clinical intervention. This book aims to understand the clinical perspectives of newborn screening. Researchers and students in the field of neonatal care will be assisted by it.