Newborn Screening

Newborn screening identifies conditions that can affect a child's long-term health or survival. Early detection, diagnosis, and intervention can prevent death or disability and enable children to reach their full potential. Each year, millions of babies in the U.S. are routinely screened, using a few drops of blood from the newborn's heel, for certain genetic, endocrine, and metabolic disorders, and are also tested for hearing loss prior to discharge from a hospital or birthing center.

For more information about CDC's Newborn Screening Programs see the following links:

• Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
  National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)
• Jaundice/Kernicterus
  National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)
• Newborn Screening Quality Assurance Program
  National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH)
• Newborn Screening Translation Research Initiative
  National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and CDC Foundation
• Pediatric Genetics and Newborn Screening
  National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)
• Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Defects
  National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)