When you walk through the doors of any Bon Secours laboratory, you can rest assured that your child is in good hands. We understand that having blood drawn can be a frightening and painful experience. That's why our staff does its best to ensure that the process is as comfortable and stress-free as possible for both you and your child.

Skilled Professionals with a Gentle Touch

All Bon Secours hospital laboratories provide full-service testing capabilities, but you'll find some additional services at St. Mary's Hospital. St. Mary's offers extensive and complex lab studies, such as testing for cystic fibrosis. The highly skilled staff follows procedures that virtually eliminate labeling mistakes, the most common cause of lab errors. Our phlebotomy technicians have been specially trained in how to draw blood and other specimens, and go through yearly age-specific competencies for working with infants and children of all ages. You can feel confident that your child's lab test will performed correctly, accurately—and gently.

Our compassionate approach doesn't end there. When your child comes to our lab for testing, we treat him or her with kindness and respect. We pay attention and listen to your concerns. For our patients for whom English is a second language, we offer multicultural services and interpreters. We won't begin the procedure until you fully understand what will happen. We also provide infants with heel warmers to increase blood flow to the area so that taking blood from your baby's heel is easier and less traumatic. And our technicians have been trained to check amounts of your child's specimen, so we don't have to stick again.

What To Expect

Here is what you and your child can expect during a typical visit to a Bon Secours laboratory.

Your child may be sent to the lab if his or her physician has ordered a blood, urine or other test to help diagnose a health problem or screen for certain disorders. Although no preparation is needed for most lab tests, you should follow any instructions given to you by your child's physician.

The process for the test depends on which tests your child's physician has requested and the child's age. For a blood test, our technician will prick your child's skin with a small, sharp, sterile instrument called a lancet. If your child is a newborn, we will prick his or her heel. If your child is older and only a few drops of blood are needed, blood will be drawn from his or her finger or earlobe. If more blood is required, we will insert a needle into one of your child's veins, usually in the inside of the elbow or back of the hand. The blood flows through this needle and into an attached test tube. After blood is drawn, we apply light pressure to the puncture with a cotton ball or pad and then cover it with a bandage.

A big part of this process involves comforting the parents by carefully explaining exactly what is going to occur during the blood drawing procedure. If the parents are comforted and confident in the technicians, then it helps with the child's comfort level as well. After blood is drawn, a technician will take the time to re-swaddle an infant and pick them up with a gentle pat on the back before handing back to the parent.

For other tests, your child may be asked to urinate in a cup (urine test).

The tests our lab performs are very safe and children can usually return to their normal activities afterward. Blood tests may cause temporary bruising at the puncture site, but this will go away in a couple of days. Following the collection, your child's sample will be sent to the lab for evaluation and the results will be sent to the ordering physician. Your child's physician will call you with the results when they are available.

Our goal at Bon Secours is to make you and your child as comfortable as possible during testing. We care about your child and go out of our way to treat him or her as we would our own. In fact, our own families use Bon Secours laboratories as well.

For hours of operation and more information, call (804) 281-8100 or click here.