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6.3: Newborns and Newborn Assessment

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    228346
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    Mom holding newborn and dad looking on
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Many hospitals in the US try to give the parents the newborn to hold on to as soon as possible after delivery.[1]

    Assessing the Newborn

    Newborn baby tested on APGAR is a scoring system- best employed within the first 5 minutes of birth.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): The Apgar assessment consists of rating baby’s appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration on a a scale from 0-2 each. A score of 7 or above is considered normal, 4-6 low and 3 or below is considered critical.[3]

    Another way to assess the condition of the newborn is the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). The baby's motor development, muscle tone, and stress response are assessed. This tool has been used around the world to further assess the newborn, especially those with low Apgar scores, and to make comparisons of infants in different cultures (Brazelton & Nugent, 1995).

    Newborns are also routinely screened for different conditions. Within the first 24 to 48 hours after birth, babies born in hospitals undergo a simple heel stick and a few drops of blood are collected on a special paper card. Providers test those dried blood spots for a variety of different congenital disorders, or conditions that are present when the baby is born. In California, newborns are now screened for 80 different genetic and congenital disorders.

    adult gloved hands performing a heel stick on an infant
    Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Copy and Paste Caption here. (Copyright; author via source)

    A medical professional performing the heel stick test to test the newborn’s blood for some common disorders.[4]

    Newborns are also screened for hearing disorders and certain serious heart problems using methods other than dried blood spots.[5]

    Attributions:

    Child Growth and Development by Jennifer Paris, Antoinette Ricardo, and Dawn Rymond, 2019, is licensed under CC BY 4.0

    [1] Image by the U.S. Air Force is in the public domain

    [2] Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective (page 63) by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

    [3] Image by Event Medicine Group

    [4] Image by the U.S. Air Force is in the public domain

    [5] Newborn Screening is in the public domain ; Newborn Screening Program (NBS) by the California Department of Public Health is in the public domain


    6.3: Newborns and Newborn Assessment is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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