Newborn hearing test coming soon

By GILLIAN SLADE on February 15, 2019.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade

A pain-free test to screen for permamnent hearing loss will be available to newborns in Alberta, according to a government press release.

The aim is to screen babies before they are a month old as part of a new program – Alberta’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention.

The screening can take place up to 90 days after birth. If not done while the baby is in hospital it can be done at other communty screening sites.

“This program speaks to the importance of providing our newest Albertans with the best possible start in life,” said Sarah Hoffman, minister of health, in a press release. “The new hearing screening program will minimize the effects of hearing loss on babies by ensuring families receive the treatment and follow-up support they need. ..”

“Up to now newborn hearing screening was only available in a small number of sites and geographic areas in Alberta. Without screening there are no obvious early signs of hearing loss and the average age of diagnosis is 24 months. Even if a baby responds to sounds, they many not hear all sounds well enough to develop language, says the press release.

“It is important for babies to have their hearing screened as early as possible, ideally by one month of age,” says Tanis Howarth, director of provincial audiology. “The earlier we can identify hearing loss, the earlier we can offer intervention services and support language development.”

More than 51,500 babies were born in Alberta last year and typically between 110 and 160 babies are born each year with permanent hearing loss.

“It’s surprising to many people that permanent hearing loss is one of the most common conditions found in newborns,” says Dr. Huiming Yang, provincial medical officer of health with healthy living and medical director of screening programs.

The screening test involves playing soft sounds into a baby’s ears as the child is sleeping or quiet. A computer measures how well the ears respond to those sounds. The service is offered free of charge in all 13 neonatal intensive care units in the province, as well as in postpartum units at most hospitals with more than 200 births per year and many community sites.

Babies who do not pass the hearing screening are sent for a specialized hearing test to rule out or confirm permanent hearing loss, and determine its severity.

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