Abnormal red reflex at 6 week check

[MyHappyNewt]

Hello,

My newborn had her six week check last week and has been referred to paeds after the gp couldn’t see a red reflex (where they shine the torch in their eyes). She said that both eyes were paler than a true red and that she had to refer to be on the safe side.

I have anxiety related to health and am obviously now spiralling- especially thinking about bilateral retinoblastoma. She has very dark eyes and I’ve read that this can sometimes be the cause of paler reflexes.

has anyone else been in this boat and had a good outcome?

Thanks!

I don't have a specific anecdote but there are only a total of 44 retinoblastoma diagnoses in children per year, and only a subset of these are bilateral and in young babies. Difficulty getting a good red reflex by a non-specialist (often in a non optimised environment under time pressure) is much, much more common than that. In addition, even if it's a "true" lack of red reflex, there are a variety of non-cancer causes.

There's a whole thread about this. Hang on... 6-week old baby - no red reflex seen | Mumsnet

Thanks both @nocoolnamesleft and @Unseenentity , I’m definitely feeling a little less panicked now as chances are that it was just a combination of a difficult exam and maybe the dark eyes. I have Indian heritage (although it would be her great grandmother so quite far back) and my husband has Mediterranean and v dark eyes/olive skin. She seems to have taken his characteristics with almost her black hair and dark eyes. She was wriggling around a lot when the gp was trying to do the reflex so fingers crossed.