How to Prepare for Your Baby’s Follow Up Hearing Test

The follow up testing to your baby’s newborn hearing screening will be an Auditory Brainstem Response test which will take approximately one hour. This test requires your baby to be asleep or nearly asleep. Here are a few things to know before your follow up testing:

  1. To ensure your baby is sleepy for testing, we ask that you keep them awake a few hours before or wake them early on the day of testing if it is a morning appointment.
  2. It is best to bring someone with you to the appointment to help keep the baby awake on the car ride to the audiologist’s office. It is also helpful to bring someone along if you will be bringing other children with you to the appointment, because one parent/guardian will need to be holding the baby while they sleep.
  3. Please bring whatever you need for feeding your baby. A sleepy baby usually makes the test go much quicker and more smoothly. We will have time at the beginning of your appointment for you to feed your child while we set up the equipment. Some babies can even be tested while feeding. You will hold your infant for the testing and he/she can be swaddled, have a pacifier, or anything that ensures they remain calm and comfortable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is It Important for Newborns to Have Their Hearing Tested?

Children with any degree of hearing loss, involving one or both ears, need early intervention and services by six months of age to develop language, social skills, and academic levels comparable to their peers with typical hearing. This is true regardless of the type of hearing loss (conductive, sensorineural, mixed, or auditory neuropathy), and the communication mode chosen (e.g. sign language, listening and spoken language or some combination of the two). Early access to specialized interventions and services results in improved outcomes for children with hearing loss

 

Do All Newborns Have Their Hearing Tested?
Yes, since 2001, Missouri has mandated hospitals and birthing centers screen newborns for hearing loss prior to discharge.

 

How are newborns testing in the hospital?

You can expect your baby to be screening around 24 hours of life.  Most hospitals complete this screening in a quiet space to ensure an accurate test. The test can take from 10 to 60 minutes depending on a variety of factors.   It is usually done while the nurse has your newborn for its other routine evaluations.

There are two types of hearing screenings used to screen hearing in a newborn.

Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE)-Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) hearing screening is conducted with a small earphone or “probe.” Placed in the child’s ear, the probe delivers a series of quiet sounds that travel through the ear canal and the small bones in the middle ear to reach the inner ear organ called the cochlea. A cochlea that is functioning normally responds to sound by sending a signal to the brain, while also producing an “acoustic emission” – a very small sound wave response — that travels back through the ear. The emission is picked up by a tiny, sensitive microphone inside the probe, the response is analyzed by the screening unit, and in about 30- 60 seconds the result is summarized on the screen as a “pass” or a “refer.”

Auditory Brainstem Reponse (ABR or ABEAR)- The auditory brain stem response (ABR) tests how the auditory nerve and brain stem (which carry sound from the ear to the brain) respond to sound. During this test, your baby wears small earphones and has sticker electrodes painlessly placed on his or her forehead and behind each ear. The electrodes adhere and come off like stickers and should not cause discomfort.  The response is picked up by the sticker electrodes and the response is analyzed by the screening unit, and in about 2-5 minutes and the result is summarized on the screen as a “pass” or a “refer.”

 

How many newborns fail their 1st hearing test?

4-10% of newborns fail their hearing screening in the hospital. Approximately 3 in 1000 babies go one to be diagnosed with permanent hearing loss

 

My Baby Failed Their Hospital Hearing Screening Now What?

A Hearing Consultants pediatric audiologist will call your either before you are discharge from the hospital (week days) or the day of discharge to explain the screening results and answer any questions you may have. We will also schedule your baby’s follow up diagnostic hearing test within 2-3 weeks.

The diagnostic hearing test includes a more comprehensive Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) which will be interpreted by the audiologist. We will test your baby’s hearing in both ears at several different pitches (frequencies). You will receive preliminary results the day of the test. We will also make recommendations for follow up, if necessary and communicate the results with your baby’s pediatrician.

Hearing Consultants has proudly provided audiologic oversight and follow up care for the SSM Health System Newborn Hearing Screening program since 2010.

Why Is It Important for Newborns to Have Their Hearing Tested?

Children with any degree of hearing loss, involving one or both ears, need early intervention and services by six months of age to develop language, social skills, and academic levels comparable to their peers with typical hearing. This is true regardless of the type of hearing loss (conductive, sensorineural, mixed, or auditory neuropathy), and the communication mode chosen (e.g. sign language, listening and spoken language or some combination of the two). Early access to specialized interventions and services results in improved outcomes for children with hearing loss.

Do All Newborns Have Their Hearing Tested?

Yes, since 2001, Missouri has mandated hospitals and birthing centers screen newborns for hearing loss prior to discharge.

How are newborns testing in the hospital?

You can expect your baby to be screening around 24 hours of life.  Most hospitals complete this screening in a quiet space to ensure an accurate test. The test can take from 10 to 60 minutes depending on a variety of factors.   It is usually done while the nurse has your newborn for its other routine evaluations.

There are two types of hearing screenings used to screen hearing in a newborn.

Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE)-Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) hearing screening is conducted with a small earphone or “probe.” Placed in the child’s ear, the probe delivers a series of quiet sounds that travel through the ear canal and the small bones in the middle ear to reach the inner ear organ called the cochlea. A cochlea that is functioning normally responds to sound by sending a signal to the brain, while also producing an “acoustic emission” – a very small sound wave response — that travels back through the ear. The emission is picked up by a tiny, sensitive microphone inside the probe, the response is analyzed by the screening unit, and in about 30- 60 seconds the result is summarized on the screen as a “pass” or a “refer.”

Auditory Brainstem Reponse (ABR or ABEAR)- The auditory brain stem response (ABR) tests how the auditory nerve and brain stem (which carry sound from the ear to the brain) respond to sound. During this test, your baby wears small earphones and has sticker electrodes painlessly placed on his or her forehead and behind each ear. The electrodes adhere and come off like stickers and should not cause discomfort.  The response is picked up by the sticker electrodes and the response is analyzed by the screening unit, and in about 2-5 minutes and the result is summarized on the screen as a “pass” or a “refer.”

How many newborns fail their 1st hearing test?

4-10% of newborns fail their hearing screening in the hospital. Approximately 3 in 1000 babies go one to be diagnosed with permanent hearing loss.

My Baby Failed Their Hospital Hearing Screening Now What?

A Hearing Consultants pediatric audiologist will call your either before you are discharge from the hospital (week days) or the day of discharge to explain the screening results and answer any questions you may have. We will also schedule your baby’s follow up diagnostic hearing test within 2-3 weeks.

The diagnostic hearing test includes a more comprehensive Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) which will be interpreted by the audiologist. We will test your baby’s hearing in both ears at several different pitches (frequencies). You will receive preliminary results the day of the test. We will also make recommendations for follow up, if necessary and communicate the results with your baby’s pediatrician.

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