A decision on whether a £2.50 test - which could save newborn babies lives - will be offered routinely will be made today.

The UK Screening Council will rule on whether a heel-prick test which could detect Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID).

The condition affects around 20 newborns a year, but although it is rare, it is potentially fatal.

Susie Ash from Forncett St Mary, near Diss, has been one of those leading the campaign for the test to be made routine after the death of her son James, just before his first birthday.

Miss Ash, and her fiance Justin Thorndyke, were told screening would have diagnosed James at birth and meant he could have been successfully treated for the condition.

MORE: Norfolk mum Susie Ash says £2.50 screening test would have saved her baby's lifeShe started a petition for the test to be made mandatory, and today she will find out whether her campaign is won.

'James died in my arms on the sofa at home,' she said.

'It is the hardest thing I've ever had to do to watch my baby take his last breath.

'It was so unnecessary - that's the hard thing. Just for the sake of a £2.50 test which every parent would willingly pay for their child.'

SCID is the name given to a group of rare inherited disorders which cause severe abnormalities of the immune system.

This happens when white blood cells, responsible for fighting infection, are missing or working poorly.

Treatment is now available that can reduce the risk of serious infection and cure the disorder.

But this can be expensive - as another Norfolk family discovered.

MORE: Crowdfunding launched for 11-week-old baby who could die from the simplest infectionFive-month-old Henry Vinen, from Shipdham, has been bravely battling SCID and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant.

And Henry's 'fraught' parents, Maria and Stuart, are trying to raise £30,000 through a Crowdfunding page to fund his 24-hour care before the transplant takes place.

Mrs Vinen, 30, from Oak Meadow, said: 'It is like living through your worst nightmare when your child is ill and the prognosis is they could die. 'Emotionally, it is the most stressful and fraught time of your life.

'It makes me realise the importance of family time. You never expect this kind of thing to happen to you.'

She added, because of the risk of infections, she cannot often leave the house or see friends or family which makes her feel isolated.