Universal hearing for newborns reaches milestone

On 4 October, 2005 Mater Mothers' Hospitals celebrated their first year of universal newborn hearing screening as part of Queensland's Healthy Hearing program.

A Queensland Health initiative, the Healthy Hearing program is being progressively rolled out throughout the state, with the aim to have all insured and non-insured babies born in Queensland to have access to free hearing tests by the end of 2006. Currently, 60% of babies born in Queensland are being offered a free hearing test.

All babies born at Mater are offered a free hearing test soon after birth with the aim to capture as many babies as possible prior to discharge from hospital. A dedicated team of registered nurses/midwives are trained to perform the screening using ( AABR ) technology.

Ms Jackie Moon, director of audiology at Mater Health Services said approximately two in every thousand babies born each year suffer hearing loss which requires specialist care and about 50% of infants with a hearing problem have had no known symptoms or a family history of deafness.

“Until the introduction of the Healthy Hearing program last year, hearing problems in infants were often not detected until the baby would normally start to speak around two to three years of age.

“Babies are now being fitted with hearing aids as young as two to three months and in turn are able to access early intervention programs resulting in improved opportunities for hearing impaired children,” Ms Moon said.

As of 10 October, 8041 babies have been screened at Mater with a coverage rate of 98-99%. Permanent hearing losses were identified in 10 children ranging from mild to profound.

Even with a very sensitive newborn hearing screen:

• Some children will still develop a hearing loss.
• Some children with a loss will have missed the screening.
• Some children will have failed to attend for follow up.

There is a need for these children to be identified through ongoing surveillance and audiological monitoring. Approximately 4% of babies born at Mater will receive audiological monitoring as part of our Targeted Surveillance Program at 12 months, or sooner if indicated, even if a PASS result is obtained.

If there is any concern regarding a child's hearing (even if they passed their newborn screen) we will be happy to accept a referral for audiological assessment. Please send your referrals to Mater Audiology Department, Mater Adult Hospital or phone +61 7 3163 8685 or fax +61 7 3163 1509.