I think it is prudent for poorly feeding babies, premies, early term infants, etc to have the test as close to discharge as possible. Many of our infants go home prior to 48 hrs, even late premies and early term (of which I had 4 today discharged less than 48 hrs and GA 36.1 to 37.6 wks). It is extremely important for the attending physician or primary provider to know how the baby is feeding and for the parent to know the importance of all follow-up appts and repeating of the test at 7-10 days. This may be something to discuss at a unit or peds meeting, to see if the usual protocol of when baby's are tested, or exactly what is said at discharge can be fine-tuned.
Laurie

From Web MD:

The test is done in the first few days after birth, as early as 24 hours after birth. A follow-up test is usually done at age 7 to 10 days. A urine PKU test is done on a baby who did not have a blood test and who is older than 6 weeks.

Your baby should be drinking breast milk or formula for 24 hours before the blood sample is taken. PKU test results are more likely to be correct if the blood sample is taken after the baby has been drinking milk or formula for at least 48 hours.

If your baby is older than 6 weeks, he or she may have a PKU urine test. You do not need to do anything before your baby has this test.


Laurie Wheeler RN MN IBCLC
BMH-UC Breastfeeding Resource Center
 "Opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of BMH-Union County or Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corporation."



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