{"id":2241,"date":"2012-04-04T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2012-04-04T12:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=2241"},"modified":"2012-04-02T14:15:15","modified_gmt":"2012-04-02T18:15:15","slug":"newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html","title":{"rendered":"Newborns: How Much Testing Should Parents Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today’s new parents have a lot of decisions to make. One of those decisions is how much testing to do on their newborn baby.<\/p>\n

Technology has opened a potential Pandora’s box when it comes to testing newborns for conditions and disorders. Just a few drops of blood from a baby’s heel can lead to the discovery of over two dozen different conditions and disorders. And many of those conditions do not yet have treatments.<\/p>\n

So the question\u00a0 is, do parents want to know all the potential problems their child can have even if there is no intervention to pursue?<\/em><\/p>\n

In the past, the reason for testing was to identify disorders like PKU that could be treated and prevented. Today the screening possibilities are much broader. Conditions and disorders can be discovered that have no treatments.<\/p>\n

On the pro side of the screening controversy, the argument is: 1) Early intervention could improve the child’s life if a disorder was discovered 2) When symptoms later appear, parents would know what these are related to and would not waste time trying to find someone who could diagnosis the condition.<\/p>\n

One the con side: 1) Early screening may lead to more unnecessary testing and treatment for babies who may not get sick 2) Broad screening adds to health care costs. 3) Blood samples can be stored and used by researchers, possibly violating privacy rights.<\/p>\n

From a bio ethical perspective, trying to decide who will benefit from additional screenings and who will not is tricky business.<\/p>\n

Right now, different states require different screenings. An advisory board to the Secretary of Health and Human Services has been established to make recommendations regarding which screenings should be done but states are trying to figure it all out.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, parents have to decide how much screening should be done and what they want to know when their child is born.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What do you think? Love to see your comments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s new parents have a lot of decisions to make. One of those decisions is how much testing to do on their newborn baby. Technology has opened a potential Pandora’s box when it comes to testing newborns for conditions and disorders. Just a few drops of blood from a baby’s heel can lead to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[891,1156,1154,1155,1152,52,1153],"class_list":["post-2241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-birth","tag-early-detection","tag-genetic-information","tag-new-parents","tag-newborns","tag-parenting-2","tag-testing"],"yoast_head":"\nNewborns: How Much Testing Should Parents Do?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Newborns: How Much Testing Should Parents Do?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today’s new parents have a lot of decisions to make. One of those decisions is how much testing to do on their newborn baby. Technology has opened a potential Pandora’s box when it comes to testing newborns for conditions and disorders. Just a few drops of blood from a baby’s heel can lead to the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-04T12:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-04-02T18:15:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/1111675_newborn_baby_boy_2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Newborns: How Much Testing Should Parents Do?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Newborns: How Much Testing Should Parents Do?","og_description":"Today’s new parents have a lot of decisions to make. One of those decisions is how much testing to do on their newborn baby. Technology has opened a potential Pandora’s box when it comes to testing newborns for conditions and disorders. Just a few drops of blood from a baby’s heel can lead to the…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2012-04-04T12:00:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-04-02T18:15:15+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/1111675_newborn_baby_boy_2.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html","name":"Newborns: How Much Testing Should Parents Do?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/1111675_newborn_baby_boy_2.jpg","datePublished":"2012-04-04T12:00:57+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-02T18:15:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/1111675_newborn_baby_boy_2.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/1111675_newborn_baby_boy_2.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/newborns-how-much-testing-should-parents-do.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newborns: How Much Testing Should Parents Do?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2241"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2249,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241\/revisions\/2249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}