Newborn Screening

Newborn screening (NBS) refers to large-scale systematic screening for a range of conditions. NBS is offered to every baby born in the United States and in most developed countries. In the United States, NBS is integrated into public health practice and aims to screen all newborns for over 30 serious health conditions. Since its inception in the 1960s, NBS has decreased morbidity and mortality for thousands of newborns with rare conditions. Many of these conditions require rapid medical intervention to prevent death or significant disability.

Several conditions currently included in NBS can result in intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD). However, most causes of ID/DD are not included in NBS for a variety of reasons such as insufficient data to support benefits of very early interventions, including ...