Pregnancy tips Newborn Screening: False Positives Increase Stress

We all want a perfect baby right? But what happens when one of your screening tests shows there might be a problem? It's a sinking scary feeling...and what's worse, sometimes these tests have false positive results. Here is an article that talks about how screening can reduce stress but false results can cause unnecessary hospitalizations and wreak havoc on the parents. Read more:

www.bio-medicine.org

From the article:

New research shows screening newborns for biochemical genetic disorders may improve a child’s outcome and reduce stress in parents. However, researchers say false-positive screening results may increase stress levels in parents...

...Results also show mothers in the screened group reported lower overall stress than those in the clinically identified group. Children with false-positive results were twice as likely to be hospitalized than those with normal results. Mothers of children in the false-positive group also reported higher stress levels.

Researchers thus conclude, “This study highlights some of the challenges to current newborn screening practices. It demonstrates a need for education about newborn screening for parents prior to the birth of their child.”