Main website: https://www.tn.gov/health/nbs.html

Prenatal Education Flipbook English- https://navigatenbs.expectinghealth.org/tennessee-edit-expecting-health-english-final_prenatal-flipb/full-view.html

Prenatal Education Flipbook Spanish- https://navigatenbs.expectinghealth.org/tennessee-edit-expecting-health-spanish-june-1-2021-final_pi/full-view.html

Refusal Education Flyer for families and healthcare providers: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/2025-notcom/NBHS%20refusal%20form.pdf

Training request form: If a provider office would like to collect newborn screening blood spot, I can provide them training and obtain supplies: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/program-areas/newborn-screening/NBS-Visit-Request-Form.pdf

Key Takeaways

Newborn screening is a critical three-part process that identifies serious metabolic, cardiac, and hearing conditions within the first 24-36 hours of life, enabling early intervention that can dramatically improve outcomes.

Prenatal education about newborn screening is significantly more effective than postnatal education, as families retain information better before labor and delivery when they are not fatigued or medicated.

Accurate documentation on newborn screening filter paper forms—including correct pediatrician contact information and current addresses—is essential for timely notification and follow-up of abnormal results.

Healthcare providers should approach hesitant families with calm, accurate information rather than shame or legal threats, recognizing that refusal often stems from exhaustion and lack of understanding rather than firm conviction.

Confirmatory testing through hemoglobin electrophoresis is necessary for any positive hemoglobin results, particularly for college athletes, as newborn screening results alone are insufficient for clinical decision-making in older children and adolescents.

Tennessee families with positive newborn screening results have access to five major genetic endocrine and hematology centers that provide expedited specialty care and family-to-family support networks.

Quotable Moments

"Early testing for early identification that leads to early intervention" — Hilary Freiman, on the fundamental benefit of newborn screening

"All of the families in both our focus group and these different studies and papers said that they wished that they had received education prenatally and wished that their prenatal provider or OBGYN would have provided some information beforehand" — Hilary Freiman, on the importance of prenatal education

"We do not press charges, nor have I heard of a hospital system pressing charges" — Hilary Freiman, clarifying that despite legal language on refusal forms, the newborn screening program does not prosecute families who refuse screening

"If we identify these infants early and provide early intervention, they can go on to live a near normal life" — Hilary Freiman, on the lifechanging impact of newborn screening even for rare conditions

Show Notes by Barevalue.

No content or comments made in any TIPQC Healthy Mom Healthy Baby Podcast is intended to be comprehensive or medical advice. Neither healthcare providers nor patients should rely on TIPQC’s Podcasts in determining the best practices for any particular patient. Additionally, standards and practices in medicine change as new information and data become available and the individual medical professional should consult a variety of sources in making clinical decisions for individual patients. TIPQC undertakes no duty to update or revise any particular Podcast. It is the responsibility of the treating physician or health care professional, relying on independent experience and knowledge of the patient, to determine appropriate treatment.