Birth Defect News

The March Of Dimes Today Issued The Following Statement On The Report On Newborn Screening Prepared For The Maternal And Child Health Bureau Of The U.S. Health Resources

The March of Dimes supports comprehensive newborn screening for all babies in this country, regardless of their place of birth.  Our policy is to support screening for specific conditions when there is a documented benefit to the child and there is a reliable test that enables early detection from newborn blood spots or other means.  We support parents' rights to be fully informed about their baby's screening results, and we support expansion of health care provider education about newborn screening.  March of Dimes state chapters and their partners work closely with governors, state legislators, and health departments to improve state newborn screening programs.

The March of Dimes strongly commends the ACMG report for advancing the field of newborn screening, defining a uniform panel for newborn screening, and providing a policy framework for the states.  We support the recommendations in this report and we urge the Secretary of Health and Human Services to accept them as a national standard for newborn screening.

Based on the findings of this report, the March of Dimes will expand our policy on newborn screening as follows:

We will urge every state to screen every baby for at least the 30 disorders listed in the ACMG report.  These 30 disorders meet our inclusion criteria, and include all of the nine metabolic tests plus hearing screening contained in our previous policy.  We will revise our periodic evaluation of states' performance on newborn screening to include at least these 30.

We will urge states to provide test results for an additional 25 "reportable" conditions named in the ACMG report for which there are reliable tests but not yet documented treatments.  We also will revise our periodic evaluation of states to include this reporting. 

It must be noted that various organizations have alternate ways of classifying and counting many of these disorders and may have different number totals for these same conditions.

We will urge states to inform all parents prospectively about the potential benefits and availability of comprehensive newborn screening.

We will recommend that professional groups, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as government policy makers, develop better systems for educating health professionals about newborn screening.

We urge public and private entities to work together to strengthen newborn screening programs.  This would include developing and validating methods to detect and treat disorders, as well as ensuring prompt followup and counseling for affected families.

Newborn screening is a rapidly changing field.  We know that expert opinion on newborn screening will continue to evolve as medical evidence mounts, and we stand ready to update our recommendations to the states and to the public.  Likewise, we urge that the ACMG report be periodically updated to accommodate new data and capabilities.  In addition, there must be timely review of infectious diseases and other disorders in newborns for possible future inclusion in universal newborn screening, using the ACMG report as a model.

The March of Dimes will continue to work at both the state and federal levels for comprehensive programs and equity in newborn screening for every baby in this country.  We urge all concerned individuals, groups, and health care providers to work even more closely together to achieve this common goal.

If you or anyone you know has experienced the results of a birth defect or any other kind of medical malpractice, please contact us. We are here to help you.

	Did You Know?
	Birth Defects Can Happen At Different Times During Pregnancy Birth defects happen before a baby is born. Inherited or genetic factors; things in the environment, such as smoking or drinking alcohol or not getting enough folic acid; and a woman’s illness during pregnancy can cause birth defects. Most birth defects happen in the first 3 months of pregnancy, when the organs of the baby are forming. This is the most important stage of development. However, some birth defects happen later in pregnancy. During the last six months of pregnancy, the tissues and organs continue to grow and develop.