child and infant screening

the procedure is carried out when the baby is 5 days old so the babies digestive system is working , the midwife or health visitor will warm the foot to increase blood flow, then they will clean the heel with an antiseptic wipe to decrease infection. the nurse will then ***** the heel with the needle and wait for the blood to show, the blood is soaked in the special card and will be sent for analysis.

positive result- high levels of phenylalanine

negative- normal levels of phenylalanine

this is a simple test to check whether a new born baby pays attention to visual objects. a midwife or doctor will try to catch the baby's atttention with an interesting object. they then move it to see if the childs eyes follow.

positive result- the childs eyes will not follow the object

negative result- the child will follow the object with its eyes,

this is carried out on older babies andtoddlers around the age of two years, the focus and sharpness of their eyesight can be checked using the rolling ball test.

a number of different sized white balls are rolled across the floor and the tester checks whether the baby notices them, it shows the range of vision and how small an object the baby can see.

positive result- the baby will only be able to spot the larger balls and wont notice the smaller balls or the baby wont notice the balls.

negative result- the baby will notice al the balls rolled.

an AOE test only takes a few minutes and can be carried out whilst the baby is aslee. a tiny earpiece will be placed in your baby's ear and quiet clicking sounds will be played through it, if your babys ear is working normally reaction sounds (echos) should be produced in a part of the ear known of the cochela. a computer is used to record and analyse the reaction sounds.

positive result- no echos will be recorded in the cochela

negative result- reaction sounds will be produced un part of the ear named cochlea

during pure tone audiometry a macheine called an audiometer generates sounds at different volumes and frequencies.

sounds are played through headphones and the child is asked to respond when they hear them - for example by pressing a button, by decreasing the level of the sound, the tester can work out the quietest sounds that the child can hear,

pure tone audiometry is only usually used for children who are over the ages of four, it is often used to screen a childs hearing before they start school.

positive result- the child wont respond when sounds are played.

negative result- the child will respond when the sounds are played

the barlow and ortalani test is used when checking if children have hip dislocation.

the ortalani test- the manouver is done on children aged 2-3 months, the move is looking for a clunckin sound when the hip moves over the edge of the hip socket when it is relocated.

positive - there is a cluncking sound

negative - no cluncking sound

the barlow test- this is an examination that identifies if the hip is loose and if it can be pushed out of the socket wth gentle pressure.

positive- the hip is easily pushed in and out of the socket

negative- the hip cannot be gently pushed in and out