It's a major advance in genetic screening that will save the lives of New Zealand babies.
A new machine being used in our hospitals will test the blood of every newborn for a wide range of diseases.
The technology has just arrived in New Zealand and doctors say it's the biggest advance in genetic screening since it first began in New Zealand 40 years ago. And they say it will save lives.
It's a fairly brutal introduction to the world but for a little bit of pain, you can now learn so much more about your baby's health.
The machine is Auckland Hospital's latest pride and joy.
For the past 40 years every newborn has been tested for seven genetic diseases and now more than 30 more disease can be picked up from day one.
"If we can diagnose them very early on us and the parents know what's wrong with the children.. when they get sick they can initiate treatment much earlier," says metabolic paediatrician Dr Callum Wilson
Babies will be tested for things like potential mental retardation, epilepsy and brain damage.
"If there's a sick child in Starship for instance we can get a blood sample off and we will have an answer in a minute or in an hour. In the past it would take a few weeks," says Wilson.
Doctors estimate this new machine could save six lives every year.
Seven year old Maggie Dawkins understands better than anyone the importance of early diagnosis.
Maggie's got a condition called alched and that's an inability to convert fat into energy
"We feed her through a tube in her stomach about every four and a half to five hours," says her mother Christine Dawkins.
But it took weeks to find out what was actually wrong with Maggie.
"We she first fell ill it was quite scary," says Maggie's mother Christine Dawkins.
"She seizured and then was in intensive care for a couple of weeks because it took quite a while for them to diagnose exactly what was wrong," she says.
A lot of people with condition's similar to Maggie come into hospital very sick or may even die and would never know what the problem is.
Now with almost instant diagnosis life saving treatment can start from day one.
