Haemoglobinopathy screening in an maternity hospital

Recent changes in population movement mean that an increasing number of mothers who deliver in Ireland and their infants are at risk of haemoglobinopathies, in particular sickle cell anaemia. Early detection of sickle cell anaemia improves outcome. For this reason, many hospitals have established antenatal and neonatal screening programmes targeting high-risk ethnic groups. We audited the provision rate of one such programme operated in the National Maternity Hospital in 2003. Using the hospital's databases, we estimated the number of mothers from high-risk ethnic groups, and how many were appropriately screened. We then calculated the neonatal screening provision rate to those infants at risk of homozygous haemoglobinopathies. In 2003, 1231 (14.9%) women from high-risk ethnic groups delivered in the National Maternity Hospital. Nine hundred and ninety one (80.5%) were screened appropriately. One hundred and thirty of these women had abnormal antenatal screens, resulting in 131 infants delivered at risk of homozygous haemoglobinopathy. Fifty eight of these infants (45%) were screened in the neonatal period. The screening programme audited did not achieve a satisfactory provision rate either antenatally or neonatally.