Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition 2008;93:F389-F393
REVIEWS
The value of the postnatal examination in improving child health
Bradford Neonatology, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford, UK
Correspondence to:
S Oddie, Bradford Neonatology, Ward M1, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford BD9 6RJ, UK; Sam.oddie{at}bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk
This paper reviews the evidence regarding whether a standardised examination in the newborn period can improve infant health. The review considers aspects of delivering such a service from timing and number of examinations through to who should perform examinations, and whether evidence supports current practice. Infants at higher risk of anomaly such as those born preterm are highlighted. Aspects of the examination itself are reviewed, such as detection of congenital heart disease, and the relatively poor detection rate which does not seem to be improving. Potential advantages of additional screening with pulse oximetry are covered. The paper also discusses screening for developmental dysplasia of the hip, which the UK national screening council is unsure of the benefit of, the difficulties of detecting all cases of cleft palate and problems with screening for the very important congenital cataract. The authors draw attention to the relative rarity of some conditions and reflected on how this complicates screening.
Relevant Article
- Fantoms
- Martin Ward Platt
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2008 93: F329.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.



