Screening tests for you and your baby: babies in special care units
Information about newborn screening tests for parents of babies in special care units.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This information explains some important differences in the way that the newborn screening tests are carried out for babies in special care baby units, neonatal intensive care units or paediatric intensive care units.
It is also available in these 12 language translations: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Somali and Urdu.
Updates to this page
-
11 August 2025 Updated with changes to wording and some new content throughout, especially sections 1, 2.4, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4.
-
24 June 2025 Changed content type to guidance.
-
4 April 2025 Changed lead organisation to NHS England. Removed reference to screening helpdesk. Removed references to PHE from HTML versions.
-
30 October 2021 Added plain A4 PDF version for printing, to provide for people unable to access this information online.
-
16 February 2021 Updated text on use of personal information.
-
28 August 2020 Updated translations and added HTML digital format.
-
19 August 2020 Added HTML version of the leaflet.
-
29 March 2018 Updated with new statement on use of personal data.
-
28 June 2017 Leaflet updated to include new 6-dose vaccination schedule for hepatitis B.
-
7 November 2016 Added 10 translated versions.
-
1 August 2015 First published.
Update history
2026-09-29 09:28
Added brief information on in-service evaluations (ISEs) in section 2.1, and minor updates to section 2.3.
2025-09-25 09:18
Added hereditary tyrosinaemia type 1 (HT1) to the list of inherited metabolic diseases screened for under blood spot.
2025-08-11 15:11
Updated with changes to wording and some new content throughout, especially sections 1, 2.4, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4.
2025-06-24 14:25
Changed content type to guidance.
2025-04-04 10:38
Changed lead organisation to NHS England. Removed reference to screening helpdesk. Removed references to PHE from HTML versions.