Between the 4th and 7th day after your baby is born, the heel prick test will be performed. As the name suggests, this involves taking a small blood sample from your baby’s heel. It is important that the heel is warm. Most babies don’t mind the prick itself, but rather the squeezing of the heel — warming the heel beforehand usually helps prevent discomfort.
The blood is tested for a range of conditions. These are mostly rare metabolic disorders that can be harmful to the baby but are treatable with medication or a special diet. The test also screens for adrenal and thyroid function, two hereditary forms of anemia (and carrier status), and cystic fibrosis.
The heel prick is done at an early stage so treatment can start in time if needed. If you don’t hear from your GP or from us within 3 weeks, the results are normal. In rare cases, something may go wrong during testing and the heel prick needs to be repeated — but this is uncommon.
Around the 36th week of pregnancy, you will receive a leaflet from us with more information about the heel prick test.