PKU

Once I attend a birth for the midwife I usually have to do the 3rd day postpartum visit at the client's home. This involves checking mom and babies vitals but also performing a PKU test on the baby. The PKU test is part of the California Newborn Screening program. A state mandated test which check for over 70 different metabolic diseases, which are all very rare but treatable if caught in time.
I really don't like doing the test that much because I have to poke the little babies foot. Sometimes I need to poke the babies foot 6 or seven times. The best scenario is when I only have to poke once.  It all depends on how fast the baby coagulates or not. There are six circles, about the size of a penny, that need to be completely saturated blood, front and back.  Some babies sleep through the whole thing, while others scream bloody murder. Sometimes the parents cry too. It is important that I remain calm and confident no matter how dramatic things get. Actually, I fell that I have gotten genuinely confident and that I cam able to handle any situation that may arise when performing that test.  I also know that at home we are doing things as humanely as possible because the mom is holding the baby the whole time and can breastfeed them if the baby wants to nurse. In the hospital the babies are separated from the moms and laid flat on their backs until the test is done.  I like the way we do the test and I am glad we offer an alternatives.