Happy Newborn Screening Month!

It has been an excellent year to get involved in newborn screening advocacy for so many reasons, but probably one of the biggest reasons this year has been so exciting is that the whole newborn screening community has been gearing up for September 2013 for quite some time now.  Welcome to the 50th anniversary of newborn screening in the United States!

In honor of newborn screening month, there are a number of awareness campaigns underway and I hope to introduce you to many of them over the next 30 days.  The first campaign is from Associated Public Health Laboratories (www.50yearssavingbabies.org).  They have an awesome brochure that is perfect for expectant parents and an incredible book recounting the detailed story of this simple test and how it became ubiquitous in newborn nurseries across the country and around the globe.  The book is chock full with family stories and I admit that I have read the entire thing cover to cover. To someone who tears up every time I think about the depth of my gratitude for newborn screening, the book was a bit of a tear-jerker, but also deeply, deeply inspiring.  They are still working to make the system better, to do it faster, to do it more accurately, to include more conditions, to save more lives.  I am thankful for the work that they are doing each and every day. 

Newborn screening saved my son's life and the next life it saves could be that of a baby close to your heart!