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March of Dimes Ambassador family shares story about newborn screenings saving lives

Posted at 4:52 PM, Apr 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-29 23:41:57-04

BYRON CENTER, Mich.  --  The 'March for Babies' event will take place at Millennium Park in Grand Rapids on Saturday, May 5th.

It's an event put on by March of Dimes, an organization that continues to work to improve the health of all mothers and babies. There's already a number of people signed up and more than $100,000 raised.

This year, the Ambassador of the event is one-year-old Samuel Satkoski. His parents are Mackenzie and Mark Satkoski of Byron Center. The family will share a special story on how newborn screenings can make a difference and save babies lives.

“It’s just exciting to spread that reach and educate people on what March of Dimes is doing," said Mackenzie.

Mackenzie said Samuel had a newborn screening done that tests for a number of rare diseases, and results came back positive for Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD).

MCAD is a disorder that prevents the body from breaking down certain fats and converting them into energy, and as a result, the level of sugar in the blood can drop dangerously low.

“We were disappointed this came up but we were really thankful that were educated about what was going on," said Mark. "MCAD is very treatable if you know about it.”

Further testing showed that Samuel is only a carrier of the disorder, something the family is glad they've learned, giving much credit to the March of Dimes.

“As we’re going through this process, and we’re learning that, we’re just so thankful for the work March of Dimes does behind the scenes to get these diseases and disorders put on this newborn screening panel," said Mackenzie.

MCAD was added to the newborn screening panel in Michigan in 2003.

“17 years ago about, a lady lost her granddaughter, in the end, they found she had MCAD," said Mackenzie. "Had that (MCAD) been in the newborn screening panel, had they known about it, and been able to prepare for that, they maybe would have had a very different outcome. So we’re just so thankful for their work to push  to get MCAD on the panel along with 50+ disorders they’re testing for, so all these babies born now have a better chance and we can have healthy babies.”

For more information on the March for Babies event, click here. To learn more about newborn screening in Michigan, click here.