We already got our Metascreen test results! 

For all parents, making sure that their child (as early as when they’re in their mommy’s womb) is healthy. This is why moms are very well taken cared of and fed knowing that everything will be passed on to the baby. Parents would also like to know if their baby has a genetic, metabolic, or infectious condition because the earlier these things are detected the better so that they can be treated early and prevent them from worsening or even saving the lives. The process of detection for newborn babies is simply called newborn screening.

Allow me to show you in simple terms what newborn screening is and why we decided to give our baby an extended newborn screening test called Metascreen. Here are the basics.

Newborn Screening in the Philippines

• Newborn screening is being done in the Philippines and is required by law under Republic Act 9288 or Newborn Screening Act of 2004.
• Blood extraction is ideally done 48-72 hours after birth. It can also be done withincatocom
• after the birth of the child wherein a few drops of blood will be taken from the baby’s heel by a physician, nurse, medical technologist or trained midwife.
• Newborn screening should be done in hospitals, health centers, birthing centers, and some private clinics. If babies are delivered at home, babies may be brought to the nearest institution offering newborn screening.
• There are 6 conditions being screened under this newborn screening test: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH), congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), phenylketonuria (PKU), glucose-6- phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, galactosemia (GAL) and maple syrup urine disease (MSUD)
• Fee is P550. The DOH Advisory Committee on Newborn Screening has approved a maximum allowable fee of P50 for the collection of the sample. Newborn Screening is now included in the Philhealth Newborn Care Package
• If results are negative, it means the baby is negative from all the conditions mentioned above. If positive, the results will be endorsed to your doctor or further tests will be done.

sources: DOH (Department of Health) website, www.newbornscreening.ph

To be honest, the extraction of blood from newborn babies could be so stressful especially for me! I’ll never forget how Chesca (my eldest, who is 1 year and 5 months now) cried so loud and so long while the blood was being extracted from her feet. I wanted to tell the nurse to stop! The results were sent to our pediatrician and thank God it’s negative.

We didn’t know that there could be an extended newborn screening tests for babies. When I heard about Metascreen and how painless and simple it is, I really wanted it for our second baby, Matteo (only if I can rewind the time and have that for Chesca too). It tests more conditions and I want to have more peace of mind when it comes to our children’s health.

What is Metascreen?

Metascreen is a comprehensive newborn metabolic screening that can detect 100+ Inborn Errors of Metabolism as early as the first 48 hours of your baby. It is offered by Cordlife (a Singaporean company providing the service of cord blood and umbilical cord lining banking) here in the Philippines. 

Why choose Metascreen by Cordlife?

We chose this because of these reasons:

• Simple urine test only (not blood extraction) which means painless for baby and is said to detect more disorders than blood
• Given that it detects a lot of conditions, the results are out in 2 weeks
• Tests more than 100 metabolic disorders
• Convenient and reliable because of Cordlife’s experience and expertise
• Everyone, their staff, are very supportive and prompt in replying to our inquiries and pick up requests
• Infants up to 6 months may take this (yes, so babies up to 6 months can still be tested!)

Our Experience

Upon knowing what Metascreen is, I didn’t hesitate to make our family a brand ambassador of this product too. As I’ve mentioned in several of my posts, I do not write about any product we don’t personal love and enjoy. And we share them for other to experience them too.

The kit for Metascreen was given days before I gave birth and instructions on how to do it were also given. A day after I gave birth, we asked the help of the nurses in the Makati Medical Center for urine collection. They were familiar with Metascreen test so everything including the kit were handled well. They returned the kit to us and we requested Cordlife to pick it up. It was really easy.

All details regarding what number to call are all boldly written on the kit so no need to worry on looking for the number anywhere else. They picked it up hours after we told them it was ready.

We then got the results 2 weeks after and we gave a copy to our pediatrician too. The results were negative. We are very thankful for having healthy kids.

We are thankful and glad to know that our baby is okay and free from all 100+ and 6 newborn screening disorders! Good things we also knew about Metascreen this time. It gave us peace of mind that our baby is free from any disorder that can lead to severe illnesses.

I knew how important good health was before for myself and my loved ones. But when you have children, good health is one thing I’ve prayed even more every night and such a treasure to have for my kids. I’m contented to know that after the Metascreen test, we did what we can to make sure our child is in good shape. We really encourage soon to be parents, parents of newborns, and planning to be parents soon or for those who are going to be parents for the nth time to have an extended newborn screening for their babies too. They won’t regret it.

Know more about their technology, metabolic disorders, and  other Metascreen facts here

Know more about email Metascreen experts at metascreen@ph.cordlife.com

“Twinkle twinkle little star do you know how loved you are?”