A simple screening tool can save a baby's life. Pulse oximetry screening has detected heart defects in infants, sometimes meaning the different between life and death.
Even though pulse ox is found in every hospital and regularly used in the newborn nursery, currently not every baby is screened. Research has shown that when a baby is screened after 24 hours of life, some of the most serious heart defects are found and a low incidence of false positives occurs. While pulse ox doesn't detect every defect, it's a start.
Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect, and one of the leading causes of death in the first year of life, killing more babies than SIDS, accidents and any other birth defect. Pulse oximetry is cheap, painless, non-invasive and doesn't interrupt important initial mother-baby bonding time because the screening is most effect after 24 hours of life.
Additional Resources:
http://www.1in100.org
http://www.childrensnational.org/PulseOx/
http://www.childrensheartfoundation.org/
http://www.itsmyheart.org/
http://tchin.org/index.htm
http://corashopesanddreams.blogspot.com
