The present patent of invention describes a high-resolution portable biometric reader for newborns that, according to the characteristics thereof, provides for the creation of a biometric reader for newborns (1) in a curved portable structure of electronic type and based on a frame and a comfortable handle enabling the operator to hold the reader in a single hand and arrange the capture surface area according to the newborn's position thus enabling the fingerprints of the newborn and those of the mother to be digitally captured using the frustrated total internal reflection technique with a prism as an optical system (4) having a resolution greater than 29 lp/mm (1450 ppi) over the entire capture area of more than 18×36 mm, so as to provide full optimization in the capturing procedures for fingerprint, palm-print and footprint imaging of newborn babies and the fingerprints of the respective mothers, i.e., the simultaneous registration of the fingerprints of both the baby and the mother and the subsequent inclusion in a medical register system to improve record tracking.