Routine blood glucose screening of healthy newborns is NOT indicated¹. Healthy, term, low-risk newborns do not develop clinically significant hypoglycemia due to limited duration or frequency of breastfeeding. Evidence indicates that routine blood sugar testing for healthy infants can lead to negative consequences for breastfeeding.

There are several newborn risk factors for which blood glucose screening is recommended, such as small for gestational age, large for gestational age, infants of diabetic mothers, prematurity, among others. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine protocol on management of hypoglycemia for the breastfeeding infant can be found at:

https://www.bfmed.org/assets/DOCUMENTS/PROTOCOLS/1-hypoglycemia-protocol-english.pdf

If an asymptomatic newborn is screened due to a risk factor and found to have a serum glucose low enough to require IV glucose administration, frequent breastfeeding should be encouraged.