Sound idea to screen babies

Joanna Davies | 8th March 2010

Reporter Joanna Davies hears good things about Waitemata DHB rolling out hearing tests for newborns.

A new baby is swaddled in a pink blanket and sleeping. Born a few hours earlier, she's earned a rest, and a technician checks the infant's hearing without disturbing her or her exhausted mum.

She places a small earpiece, which makes a clicking sound, in the baby's ear. The baby wriggles a bit in response and goes back to sleep.

The technician checks a handheld computer to see whether the baby's ear has responded to the sound, thus determining whether or not the baby can hear properly.

In Waitakere Hospital, new staff are practising using the testing gear on toy dolls. This month, they will begin testing all newborns at the hospital.

"The earlier we identify a baby with hearing loss, the sooner we can help them," says screener Yogis Archary.

Waitemata District Health Board is the first board in Auckland to introduce the tests, which have become the standard of care internationally. "The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are already doing these tests," says Ms Archary.

Another screener, Maddie Thompson, says each baby born at the hospital will be tested before they go home. "Once mum and the baby are comfortable, we will test the baby and, if we need to, we will make a referral to the audiology department.

"We don't diagnose any problems, we just screen for them, and the audiology department will make a diagnosis if they need to."

Anna Saunders, screening co-ordinator at Waitakere Hospital, says the tests will also start at North Shore Hospital in June. "This is a great opportunity to pick up hearing loss at a very early stage, as hearing loss can have serious implications on a child's development.

"The test is very gentle and the results are available to the parents immediately."

Ms Saunders says the screening team has a lot of work ahead of them.  "We had nearly 7000 babies born in the region in 2009, so the team will certainly be busy."

In 2007, the Government launched these tests nationally, because hearing loss was not being diagnosed in many children until they were three or four.

The test is free to all eligible New Zealand babies, and may be done at hospitals or at outpatient clinics on babies born at home.

Ears and graces

In New Zealand, about 170 babies are born each year with significant hearing loss. In half of these children, their families do not have a history of deafness and it is detected only when language and speech development are delayed, usually at the ages of three or four.

Early detection of hearing loss ensures families get the right treatment and learn how to develop their children's communication skills.