The Newborn Hearing Test

Partial or complete hearing loss delays or prevents language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Groups such as the National Association of the Deaf advocate testing before three months of age and starting family-centered intervention by six months of age. Without automatic testing, the average child with hearing loss is not discovered until over two years old. Parent and physician observation do not usually detect hearing loss even if profound.

To find infants with hearing loss sooner, California requires hospitals with intermediate or intensive care nurseries to offer testing before a baby goes home. Usually the test is done with the infant asleep in the nursery separate from the parents. Testing can also be done as an outpatient at a hospital or a physician’s office. Testing requires informed consent. Insurance companies may or may not cover newborn hearing tests. There are no good studies that show that testing every infant leads to better long term outcomes.

Two types of testing are available, otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) and auditory brainstem response (ABR). OAEs use the sounds that are reflected back from the ear to check for problems with the structures of the ear such as the eardrum, the ear canal, and the hair cells. A small probe placed in the ear records sounds from the ear over time. OAE testing can be done with the infant in your lap or nursing as long as baby is not vocalizing.  The equipment for OAEs testing is much less expensive than that for ABR testing.

ABR uses electrodes similar to those used for brain EEGs and cardiac EKGs. These stickers send information back to a computer that monitors brain activity in response to sounds. To have a normal ABR result, the outer ear structures, the auditory nerve, and the auditory pathways in the brain must all function. ABR testing requires baby to be very still.

Here is one home birth mother's point of view on newborn hearing tests.

In Fresno you can get outpatient hearing tests at these locations:

Community Regional Medical Center
Newborn Audiology
Tammy Vawter
2823 Fresno St, 3rd Floor
Fresno CA 93721
(559) 459-2807

Children’s Hospital of Central California
Audiology Services
(559) 353-6801

Valley Pediatric Medical Group
7130 N Sharon #101
Fresno CA 93720
(559) 436-8606

Central California Ear, Nose, and Throat Medical Group
1351 E Spruce Ave Suite 100
Fresno CA 93720
(559) 432-3303

Comments

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