newborn hearing test

is it standard practice now? I was at burwood(though at CWH i was right across from the office but never got told about it)) and the hearing lay was going around so asked if i could see her(as did everyone there) and they doa new test with a little thing in his ear and if they fail that (as Liam did) they use like a big telephone thing to check the hearing in both ears(he was fine) has it just come in?

Was happening in wellington when DS was born in July. They said every baby had it done now, though I know other mothers near the same time who haven't heard of it. (no pun intended)

From the MOH website ...

Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Early Intervention Programme
Newborn hearing screening is becoming the standard of care internationally, with programmes being established or already implemented in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and a growing number of other countries.

As a response to the success of newborn hearing screening programmes in other countries, the New Zealand Government announced in 2006 that it would fund a universal newborn hearing screening programme for all eligible New Zealand children.

The universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Early Intervention Programme (UNHSEIP) is now being progressively rolled out in New Zealand over three years, a process which started in July 2007. The UNHSEIP is jointly lead by the Ministries of Health and Education to ensure those babies diagnosed with a hearing loss receive support from the newborn period through to school entry.

Benefits of a Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme

Each year, it is estimated that between 135 and 170 babies are born in New Zealand with mild to profound permanent congenital hearing loss. This represents a birth incidence of approximately three babies with a hearing loss per one thousand births.

The first six months of a baby’s life is a critical period for learning communication.    Lack of exposure to language during this time can affect a child’s development, communication skills, educational and career achievements. The early detection of hearing loss, and the application of early interventions, has been demonstrated to significantly improve long-term language skills and cognitive ability.    

The internationally recommended age for the diagnosis of hearing loss is before three months of age, with intervention commencing by six months. While New Zealand’s incidence of hearing loss is similar to international reports, the average age of diagnosis is around three to four years of age. This compares poorly to other countries that have introduced newborn hearing screening programmes.

Even if it is practice you can refuse it if you want. I know I wont let them do it. There is a huge failed tests that later will be picked up as a false negative (when they are a bit older) and there is enough to worry about with a newborn.

In SA we declined the test just to find out they did in fact do it to our girl and she failed in the one ear. We went back at 6 months and surprise surprise she passed with flying colors.

Yeah Hamilton was one of the trial areas and both my kids had it done (and Ollie was born in 2006).

Great news that Liam passed

SMoody, absolutely. Everyone is entitled to make their own decision regarding the screen, and it by no means is compulsory.   And as with any screening programme , there will always be some degree of false positive results but in New Zealand this has been kept to a very small percentage. These are always followed up by a diagnostic clinical appointment here. It is important to keep in mind that hearing loss is one of the most common congenital issues, and the earlier this is picked up, the more likely the child will develop normal speech and language skills.

KA, they do a two stage screen (which also incidentally cuts down the false positive rate significantly) so Liam would have had the OAE test first which is very quick, but can be affected by wax or vernix in the ear canals, and high background noise levels. As he didn't get a pass result with that, the screeners would have done an automated ABR test (the telephone thing) which needs a bit more setting up and takes a little longer, but is a more sensitive test. Glad you are home and doing well, and hope E is enjoying his gorgeous little bro!