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Training & Resources

Genetic Screening Training

The State of New Mexico mandates two genetic screens be collected on every newborn. The first is a blood test that is initially done between 24-48 hours of age, and the second blood test is done 10-14 days after birth.

New Mexico Newborn Screening Program continues to partner with Mountain States Genetics Regional Collaborative and has also contracted with Oregon State Public Health Laboratory for testing.

Specimen Collection Card

Procedure for packing and shipping bloodspots

  1. Place each bloodspot kit in its envelope provided by Oregon State Public Health Laboratory. One bloodspot per envelope.
  2. Place envelopes in insert packaging provided by FedEx.
  3. Apply label.

Fedex Online

  • FedEx online system allows you to print labels.
  • Allows you to track package.

All first bloodspot forms will be picked up by FedEx daily. Do not batch forms. Second forms need to go by regular mail, but if the lab is located within the hospital, those bloodspots can go with daily courier.

A FedEx representative will be contacting all hospitals to provide information on packing/shipping procedures and will set up FedEx online system.

Contact Newborn Screening Program Manager Molly Archuleta at (505) 476-8858 if your hospital has not been contacted or for any questions.

Transfusions

Collect a specimen for the Newborn Screening test before giving blood to an infant. If there's a transfusion before the first newborn screening specimen is collected, it can affect results for Galactosemia, Biotinidase Deficiency, Hemoglobinopathies and Lysosomal disorders.

For Parents That Choose to Not Have Newborn Screening

  1. Contact New Mexico Newborn Screening Program for a Newborn Screening Test Refusal - Form.
    1. Newborn Screening Test Refusal Form - Español
  2. Review Newborn Screening Test Refusal form with parent.
  3. With the parent(s) review the two newborn screening brochures provided by the State of New Mexico Newborn Screening Program.
  4. Have parent(s) sign the form stating their intention to decline screening.
  5. Send the form to the Newborn Screening Program at 2040 S. Pacheco, Santa Fe, NM 87505.

Ordering Blood Spot Kits

Please call 505-476-8856 or 1-877-890-4692 to order blood spot kits and allow at least 3-5 shipping days for form delivery.

NOTE: The State of New Mexico mandates two tests. See House Bill 479 (2005) Newborn Child Medical Test Requirements and House Bill 9 (2014) Require Newborn Infant Heart Disease Testing for details. Babies can be screened up to 6 months of age. The specimen of a baby older than 6 months will only be accepted by written request from the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory.

Single Kits: $40.00

  • Newborn screening single kits are designed to be used only when the family has lost the original second half of the double kit or when the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory requests another sample.
  • These kits can be obtained at a local public health office by the parent at no cost. For more information contact Molly Archuleta at 505-476-8857 or via email at molly.archuleta@doh.nm.gov.

Double Kits: $240.00

  • Double kits are 2-part filter paper bloodspot forms.
  • To order kits call 505-476-8856 or 1-877-890-4692.
  • The forms are bar coded to link the first form with the second form.
  • Second bloodspot form is not to be used as a first bloodspot for another client.
  • Parents need to be instructed on the importance of bringing the second bloodspot form with them to their first newborns appointment or lab visit.

Triple Kits: $240.00

  • Used in the newborn intensive care units.
  • These forms can be purchased by Newborn Intensive Care Units only.
  • To order kits call 505-476-8856 or 1-877-890-4692.
  • No additional fee for triple kits.

What Happens to Leftover Blood Spots?

After newborn screening is completed, the small amount of dried blood that remains on the filter paper card is saved in case it needs to be retested or used to adjust the instruments to assure proper performance for testing. No blood spots collected in New Mexico will be used for research. All blood spots are destroyed at 18 months.

Hospital Hearing Screening Programs

Hospitals use the Newborn Hearing Screening Referral Form to refer infants who do not pass the hearing screen or who have risk factors for hearing loss to the Newborn Hearing Screening Program. The form is faxed or mailed to the program within 24 hours of the infant’s birth.

New Mexico birthing hospitals have been required by law (NMAC 7.7.2) since 2001 to screen newborns prior to discharge.

The Newborn Hearing Screening Program recommends that birthing hospitals who provide outpatient newborn haring screens schedule these during discharge to help ensure parents bring their infants back during their first month of life.

Birthing Hospital / Center Forms

Newborn Hearing Screening Training

Documents

Midwives

Midwives have always been an integral part of New Mexico’s health care system. The New Mexico Midwives Association (NMMA) was incorporated in 1977 to ensure women’s access to safe and personalized care. Licensed midwives attend the births of thousands of New Mexican babies every year with excellent outcomes.

If a baby is born with severe to profound hearing loss but does not have a newborn hearing screen and diagnostic hearing testing, the hearing loss will usually not be identified until the child is 2.5 years of age. Newborn hearing screening and diagnostic hearing testing are the only ways to find hearing loss early.

Midwives who support newborn hearing screening are more effective in communicating with parents about why a hearing screen is critically important for their infants. The way the midwife communicates this importance helps to ensure that parents are truly able to give informed consent when they accept or decline a hearing screen for their newborn.

Research has shown that midwives can easily be trained to perform Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) testing; however, the cost and sharing of equipment must be considered.

In a home birth, the midwife has the following responsibilities:

  • Communicate the importance of newborn hearing screening to parents orally and in writing using the educational materials provided by the Newborn Hearing Screening Program. Referral forms and educational materials can be ordered by calling Children's Medical Services at 1-877-890-4692.
  • If trained, and with access to OAE hearing screening equipment, screen the newborn’s hearing during a follow-up well baby visit. The timing of the hearing screening is important. It has been documented that OAE testing has a much higher false positive rate if performed within the first 24 hours of life. The false positive rate falls to 4% by 72 hours of life (Owen, Webb & Evans, 2001). OAE equipment is portable and easy to use. The midwife inserts a small probe into the baby’s ears. Soft tones are played through the speakers in the probe, and the probe then measures the tones as they bounce back from the different parts of the infant’s ear. The computer attached to the small probes measures the results and concludes with a Pass or a Refer (did not pass) result.
  • Refer the baby to an outpatient provider such as a hospital nursery, audiology office, or a pediatrician who performs newborn hearing screening.
  • Use the Midwife Reporting Form or the Fillable Midwife Reporting Form to report the birth of babies delivered to the Newborn Hearing Screening Program.

The Newborn Hearing Screening Program provides midwives with orientation to the Newborn Hearing Screening Program as well as training during recertification. Outreach and training can be requested by contacting Tashi Gyalkhar at 505-699-1884 or via email at tashi.gyalkhar@doh.nm.gov

Medical Home

Since 1999, the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing has advocated for appropriate and necessary care for infants with hearing loss to be directed and coordinated by the child's physician within the medical home with support from appropriate ancillary services.

Families look to their baby's physician for answers and direction at each of the stages of the newborn hearing screening process. New Mexico's universal newborn hearing screening program is the first step, and infants who don't pass (refer) on their newborn hearing screen must be linked in a timely manner to audiological and medical assessment. Infants with confirmed hearing loss must be referred to early intervention services.

The New Mexico Physician's Roadmap provides information to support physicians in linking infants who do not pass their newborn hearing screen to needed follow-up. Physicians also monitor infants and young children who have risk factors for delayed onset or progressive loss and provide referrals for ongoing diagnostic audiological assessment in accordance with their type of risk factors.

Forms

Documents

Audiologists

Infants who do not pass the initial hearing screen and rescreen in one or both ears are referred by their physician for a diagnostic audiological assessment three months before age and for ongoing audiological assessment as needed.

An infant identified with a hearing loss should be fit with hearing aids (if recommended) as soon as possible. Audiologists must mail or fax the Report of Audiological Results Form to provide the results of diagnostic audiological assessment to the Newborn Hearing Screening Program for newborns through children up to age four.

The Newborn Hearing Screening Program maintains a List of Audiologists trained in infant diagnostic audiological assessment.

Forms

Documents

Resources