Specimens are held at the screening laboratory for one month for quality control purposes and if any retesting is needed. The specimens are returned to the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services and stored at a secure location until the child turns 18 and then they are disposed of.
Families may benefit from having their baby's dried blood spot card stored. If a child gets sick, the blood spot can give the provider an idea if something at birth made the child sick. A blood spot may also be used to identify a missing or deceased child or if the parents request information for future pregnancies. At no time would any research be done on a baby's blood spot card without parental consent.
If a parent/guardian would like their baby's blood spot card returned to them, they may submit their request to the newborn screening program in the link below.
Contact the hospital at which the child was born for the report. You may also submit your request in the form below.
An abnormal result indicates the baby may be at a higher risk of having a condition. This does not mean that the baby has a condition. Newborn screening is not a diagnostic test and confirmatory labs must always be done. The Newborn Screening Program's short-term follow-up nurse will contact you with next steps and what labs to draw to confirm or rule out a condition. Contact short-term follow-up at 319.384.5097 for further guidance. Minutes matter in some cases, so prompt identification and early treatment is necessary for urgent cases.
Contact the University of Iowa State Hygienic Lap at shl-webportalsupport@uiowa.edu or by calling 319-335-4358.
The NCAA requires all student athletes in Division I, II, and III colleges and universities to provide their school with documented results from previous sickle cell solubility test or they must undergo testing during their preparticipation medical examination. Testing methodology for newborn screening hemoglobinopathies that is used for ND does not include sickle solubility testing (SST); rather, hemoglobinopathy screening that is conducted by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), or hemoglobin electrophoresis.
Newborn screening does not provide diagnostic testing as the results are not confirmation of a congenital or inherited condition.
Sickle cell solubility testing should be ordered by the athlete’s health care provider so their sickle cell status can be confirmed by a physician. If the patient previously had hemoglobin electrophoresis testing done, these results can be used to confirm sickle cell trait status and a SST is not needed.