Routine assessments for newborn babies

Giving birth to a healthy and normal child is a dream for every mother. To ensure that the baby is healthy and normal, several routine measures are employed. These include standardized assessments which are included to ensure that your child is healthy and has a lesser risk of developing any complications.

“These assessments check the child for any congenital abnormalities, heart problems, neurological disturbances, hereditary diseases and so on,” opined Dr. B. J. C Perera, Specialist Consultant Paediatrician and founder president of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians.

As such, some of the assessments for normal newborn babies include : Extensive and thorough clinical examination by a qualified doctor to ensure that there are no signs of congenital malformations, some hereditary disorders and genetic diseases Routine pulse oximetry tests – to check the oxygen saturation in limbs. This is also a way to diagnose some congenital heart problems which do not show other signs in the immediate post-birth scenarios. Pulse oximetry is a simple non-invasive procedure.

Blood grouping of the mother baby if the mother has a Rhesus (Rh) negative blood group.

DR. B. J. C PERERA Specialist Consultant Paediatrician and founder president of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians

Routine blood test on the baby for a higher-than-normal Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) Level to arouse a suspicion or even to diagnose a suboptimally functioning thyroid gland. Such thyroid disorders need to be treated urgently.

If the mother has has diabetes in pregnancy, a blood sugar level is done on the baby to ensure that the problem in the mother is not causing a low blood sugar level in the baby. Low blood sugar can damage the nervous system of the baby.