You want your newborn to be healthy so why not consider a health test to give your little one the best possible start.
Once your baby has been born, you’ll be given a set of first tests to make sure they are fit and healthy.
Did you know that you can choose to have some dedicated newborn screening tests, to see if your baby is at risk of inheriting genetic conditions that may develop in the early months? Future Health Biobank is a company that offers the Outlook Newborn Screening Test that can show parents exactly which conditions their baby might be at risk of developing.
- Lactose intolerance
- Coeliac disease
- Bitter taste
- Medication-induced deafness
The tests can be simply and easily carried out in one of two ways:
From a cord blood sample – when you baby is bon, you may choose to have their cord blood stored. See the reasons why you might choose to do this in this feature. A small sample of the cord blood can be used for the Outlook Newborn Screening Test and the results mailed to you within a few days.
From a mouth swab – you simply order a test online and when it arrives, use the kit to take a mouth swab from your baby. You then return the kit and the results will be with you shortly.
These quick and simple tests can help you find out if your baby may be at risk of genetic illnesses and with the results arriving so quickly, you will be able to gain further advice and take steps to help your child’s health in the future.
More about the conditions tested for:
Lactose intolerance: A common condition, that can crop up at any age. People with this find that digesting lactose in milk and dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt is difficult due to an inability to break the sugars glucose and galactose. The condition causes bacteria to develop in the gut, leading to pain and discomfort.
Coeliac Disease: This is also called gluten intolerance and it can come on at any age, with the small intestine developing hypersensitivity to gluten. This can lead to pain and inflammation in the gut and the sufferer is unable to get all the nutrients they need from their food. This can also lead to other health problems and sufferers may be sensitive to barley, wheat and rye which are found in many products like cakes, pies and pastries.
Bitter taste: some people have a sensitivity to the bitter-tasting elements found in foods like cabbage, broccoli, sprouts and similar vegetables. These people are called ‘tasters’. This may affect weaning but does not have health implications.
Medication-induced deafness: Some antibiotics, called aminoglycosides, can damage the inner ear and in some people, there is a mitochondrial mutation that means they are at risk of severe hearing loss following just one course of them.