September is Newborn Screening Awareness month, celebrating a program that began 54 years ago and saves an estimated 12,000 babies in the US and tens of thousands worldwide every year. Some high points of the program are shared below.

State Hygienic Lab Newborn Screening team members representing the day shift are (clockwise from top) Val Van Zee, Mike Ramirez, Terri Snell, Judy Tarr and Ashley Comer.

Newborn Screening –
Giving Babies the Best Start to Life

• The first practical newborn screening test was developed by Dr. Robert Guthrie for phenylketonuria (PKU) after his niece was born with the condition in 1958. Without effective detection and treatment, the child and others suffered developmental delays, spurring Guthrie to find a solution.
• In 1963, Guthrie and a colleague published a paper about screening for PKU that ultimately led to the formation of newborn screening programs in all 50 states.
• Three years later, Iowa implemented its newborn screening program authorized in 1965 by the state legislature, and today can screen for more than 49 conditions from five bloodspots.
• The Iowa Newborn Screening Program is administered by the Iowa Department of Public Health that contracts with the State Hygienic Laboratory to perform the testing of newborn samples. The Stead Family Department of Pediatrics at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital provides clinical follow up for any abnormalities detected through the screening process.
• Central Delivery Service of Iowa works 365 days a year to provide same-day delivery of specimens to the State Hygienic Laboratory newborn section facility in Ankeny. The State Hygienic Laboratory and Stead Family Department of Pediatrics Follow-up team also work every day of the year on behalf of babies.
• Through an unprecedented interstate laboratory agreement, the State Hygienic Laboratory screened babies for Louisiana for more than three years after its state public health laboratory was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The addition of 80,000 screens and re-screens almost tripled the Hygienic Lab’s year volume
• Bloodspots are collected between 24 to 48 hours of life. In July 2017, 96 percent of Iowa birthing facilities met or exceeded the goal of having newborn screening specimens to the laboratory within 65 hours of birth. This is up from 76 percent in January 2015. This rapid response has allowed the Iowa Newborn Screening Program and its partners to continue their national prominence.
• Events of the 2017 Labor Day weekend demonstrate the role and the critical need for 365-day response. A presumptive positive result was reported by the Hygienic Lab on day two of the baby's life. The subsequent quick response by the University of Iowa Follow-up staff and their timely interventions just minutes after receiving the screening results ensured that the newborn was saved from the potentially life threatening effects of medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency or MCADD.
• The expertise and effectiveness of the services provided for the Iowa program are also provided for babies born in North and South Dakota.