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Official website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means it's official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Newborn Screening Program

    Newborn screening in Pennsylvania is completed to ensure every newborn is tested for metabolic, endocrine, hemoglobin, congenital heart disease, and hearing loss.  Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is reported to the newborn screening program, but not universally screened for in infants.  The majority of these diseases are genetic and the testing performed identifies babies with certain disorders which, without intervention, may permanently impact newborns and their families.  Early recognition and treatment of most of these disorders leads to a better outcome for the newborn.

    The Newborn Screening Program's goal is to eliminate or reduce mortality, morbidity and disabilities by screening for disorders included in the Pennsylvania Newborn Screening Panel so as to help affected babies live as long and as full of a life as possible.

    No test is perfect.  If your newborn's health care provider suspects there is a problem or your newborn does not seem right despite a normal newborn screening result, your newborn may need further testing.

    Interested in nominating a condition to be added to the Pennsylvania newborn screening mandated panel?  Pennsylvania researchers, advocates, clinicians, healthcare providers and other parties may nominate a condition to be reviewed by the Pennsylvania New Conditions Nomination Committee by completing the Pennsylvania New Condition Nomination Form. All nominated conditions will be assessed for appropriateness to add to the newborn screening panel by a group of subject matter experts using the New Condition Nomination Committee Readiness Evaluation Form and following the New Condition Workflow. To comply with Pennsylvania regulations related to newborn screening, a newborn is defined as an infant under 1 year of age. Proposed conditions should be able to reliably be detected and have an FDA approved treatment for this age range in order to be considered for addition to the screening panel.

    Where can I get more information?

    If you have questions about your baby's newborn screening result, contact your baby's health care provider or call the Pennsylvania Department of Health's Newborn Screening and Follow-Up Program at 717-783-8143.