The test measures oxygen levels indirectly, by shining certain wavelengths of light through a foot or finger onto a sensor on the other side.

Kemper says it's important to identify kids with these critical heart problems early on in life.

"Because these are conditions that really need early intervention in that if you were to discharge some of these children without providing any medical care, they could go home and even die."

Although pulse oximetry screening is easy and cheap, the hard part comes when an infant is identified with a potential heart defect. More advanced testing is then needed, and even in a wealthy country like the United States, not all hospitals can provide those services.

So does the screening make sense in more resource-poor areas? Kemper says yes, because it can identify some hidden problems that may not require expensive, high-tech treatments.

"Anything that causes low oxygen levels in the blood would test positive. And so, there are potential other spillover effects including identifying important infections."

The recommendations of the expert workgroup, including Duke University's Alex Kemper, on screening newborns for heart defects is published online by the journal Pediatrics.