Heel prick and hearing screening

What is the heel prick?

In the first week (6th day) after your baby’s birth, a few drops of blood are taken from your baby’s heel. In a laboratory, the blood is tested for a number of rare but serious diseases.

These diseases cannot be cured. But if they are detected in time, they are treatable. Therefore, it is very important for your child’s health that you participate in the heel prick.

27 diseases
As of Oct. 1, 2023, there are 27 diseases that the heel prick detects:

19 metabolic diseases; another word for these is metabolic diseases;
2 endocrine disorders: adrenogenital syndrome (AGS(adrenogenital syndrome )) and
congenital hypothyroidism(CH(congenital hypothyroidism ));
3 forms of hereditary anemia: alpha-thalassemia, beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease(SZ(sickle cell disease ));
spinal muscular atrophy(SMA(spinal muscular atrophy )), this is a muscle disease;
cystic fibrosis, another name for this is cystic fibrosis(CF(cystic fibrosis ));
severe combined immunodeficiency(SCID(severe combined immune deficiency )), this is a disease of the immune system.

Hearing Screening

In addition to the heel prick test, every newborn baby receives a hearing screening. This is carried out in combination with the heel prick. For more information, visit the hearing screening page on the website.

Both tests are performed by a nurse from the child health clinic. They are informed via the municipality that you have given birth and will come to your home to carry out the tests.