My baby is a healthy normal newborn. My pregnancy and delivery was normal too, with no risk factors. Should I still test my baby’s hearing?

A

My baby is a healthy normal newborn. My pregnancy and delivery was normal too, with no risk factors. Should I still test my baby’s hearing?

Yes, ideally every newborn should undergo hearing screening. Although estimates vary slightly, prevalence figures for hearing loss in children (from the CDC and NIDCD) indicate that 1 to 3 infants out of every 1000 will have some degree of permanent hearing loss. It is expected that 10/1000 infants from the NICU will be identified with hearing loss, whereas 1/1000 are expected from the well baby nursery (normal newborns).