What Should You Do if Your Newborn Has Hearing Loss?

Nothing adds more excitement to a family than the arrival of a new baby. Naturally, you want the newest family member to be healthy. Yet, every year babies enter the world with hearing problems. In fact, between 1 and 2% of newborns have significant hearing loss at birth. Fortunately, as a parent, you can find out whether your newborn baby has hearing problems early, thanks to universal newborn hearing testing. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the better the chances for successful treatment. Experts point out that babies diagnosed with hearing loss after six months of age are more likely to have speech and cognitive problems.  

It used to be that only babies at high risk for hearing loss or who had certain “red flag” signs had their hearing tested – but too many hearing impaired babies were missed! That’s why a screening should be offered to your baby prior to leaving the hospital or within the first few weeks of life. Keep in mind this is only a screening test and does not tell the full breadth of sounds your baby hears.

What if your baby fails the screening test? It does not mean that hearing loss is certain.  It could be a false positive due to fluid in the ears, or your baby could have been moving or crying during the test, but don’t make that automatic assumption. Schedule another follow-up screening within the first few weeks, along with a consultation with an audiologist.

If your baby’s hearing is at risk, you want a trained hearing care professional to repeat the test. The screening test most hospitals use on newborns is called otoacoustic emissions or OAEs. If your baby fails this test, an audiologist will usually repeat the test and give a second test that measures auditory brainstem responses (ABR).

Here’s the good news. Most babies who fail their initial hearing screening test don’t have permanent hearing loss and will have normal hearing when re-tested. Even if your baby passes screening, if they later have problems with speech or don’t appear to hear well, see a hearing care professional for evaluation as soon as possible.

Reference:

Mersch, J., & Kibby, J. E. (2015). Newborn infant hearing screening. Retrieved from https://www.medicinenet.com/newborn_infant_hearing_screening/article.htm