Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital has implemented a new way to detect congenital heart defects in baby right after you've given birth. Friday was the first day the test was given to babies and doctors say its easy. The test measures the amount of oxygen in a baby's blood along with the child's pulse rate. Doctor's say the test is painless and takes no more than 5 minutes. Mindy Spencer, the Neo-Natal Outreach Coordinator with the hospital, adds that without this test families could go home and not know the issue is there; "this is so important because you need to detect because you need to detect this heart problem prior to the baby going home because if it's not detected it could be very dangerous."
The issue accounts for nearly 30% of infant deaths and if left untreated the defect could cause serious brain damage.