Newborn babies get free hearing screening
More than 500 babies have been screened for hearing loss in Te Awamutu since the Waikato District Health Board’s newborn hearing screening programme started nearly four years ago.
The Waikato health board was the first in New Zealand to start using the programme, which has now gone nationwide.
Newborn hearing screening is designed to pick up moderate to profound hearing loss. The screening is free and is offered for all newborn babies.
Babies are generally screened in the first month of their life, and finding any hearing problems this early can significantly help a child’s language and learning development.
Waikato District Health Board’s Michelle Dalton, who screens the newborn babies in Te Awamutu, says the programme has received very good feedback from parents, with a less than 1% decline rate.
“The response we get from the parents is that they are grateful for the service and are happy to find that their child’s hearing is fine at the time of the screening.”
Ms Dalton says it is a straightforward procedure that takes just 15-20 minutes, and parents get the results on the spot.
“It’s simple and safe and we do the screening while babies are asleep and settled – it doesn’t hurt at all.
“We pop a little soft tip in their ear, play some soft clicking sounds and we are able to pick up the response from inside the baby’s ear.”
After the screening, parents are given a checklist so they can follow up their child’s hearing. If they have any concerns they can follow through with their GP or well child provider.
When a screener does not get a clear response the baby is referred to a hearing specialist.
The programme was introduced to clinics in Te Awamutu in 2007 and since then 530 local babies have been screened. No babies in Te Awamutu have been found to have a hearing loss.
However the programme has screened 34,000 babies throughout the Waikato since it started in 2004, with 49 babies found to have a permanent hearing loss in both ears.
Of those, 28 have received hearing aids and another nine were given cochlear implants (a surgically implanted electronic device that gives a sense of sound to babies who are severely hard of hearing).
Newborn hearing screenings are held in Te Awamutu on the first and third Thursday of every month at Matariki Maternity Unit (10am-11.30am) and Te Awamutu Plunket (12.30pm-1.30pm).
