Baby parents know that hospitals have to collect heel blood from newborns, so what is the purpose of hospitals collecting heel blood from newborns? Is it necessary to collect heel blood from every newborn?

Newborns' heel blood is collected and tested by the hospital where the baby is born to determine whether the baby has congenital phenylketonuria and hypothyroidism, two blood disorders. If the test data shows positive, then the newborn has to undergo further examination. If the test data shows negative, then the newborn is healthy and does not need to undergo further examination. If the test data is still positive, then the newborn will continue to be tested until the diagnosis is confirmed.

Generally, the birthing hospital will collect heel blood from the newborn 3-7 days after birth. If there are special circumstances, such as prematurity, that make it impossible to collect the newborn's heel blood, the hospital will notify the parents to bring the baby to the hospital for a checkup within 20 days of the birth. If the parents do not follow the hospital's requirements, the newborn will miss the best time for diagnosis, and if the newborn does suffer from these two blood diseases, he or she will suffer from mental retardation, slow reaction, growth retardation and other problems. Therefore, parents should bring their newborns to the hospital to collect heel blood within the specified time.

If the newborn is diagnosed with these two blood diseases, the hospital will notify the parents to bring the newborn to the hospital as soon as possible to receive treatment according to the newborn's information, and as long as they receive the treatment in time, most of the babies can be cured, and the treatment is free of charge. If the parents do not take the newborn to the hospital in time to receive treatment, then the newborn will miss the best time for treatment, and even if they receive treatment, it is difficult to be completely cured. Therefore, the baby parents must take the baby to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible after being notified, only in this way can ensure that the baby grows up healthily.

All newborns must receive a heel blood test, and it must be done within 20 days of birth, only then can the baby be diagnosed as soon as possible with congenital phenylketonuria and hypothyroidism. Once the baby is diagnosed, the parents must take the baby to the hospital as soon as possible to receive treatment, as long as the treatment is timely and measures are in place, the baby's cure rate is very high.