A trained hearing screener will check your child's hearing at birth as part of the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme. The aim is to find out, as early as possible, if your baby has hearing loss. If they do, they can get the help they need as soon as possible to help their language, learning and social development.
If your baby's hearing has not been screened, talk to your midwife or doctor so that they can arrange a screening. Screening should be finished by the time your baby is 1 month old.
For more information about the Programme and why you should have your baby screened, see:
The following Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme video explains what happens during your baby's hearing screening.
If your baby passes the hearing screen, it means that at the time of the screen, your baby's hearing was good. It is still possible for some babies who pass their hearing screen to develop a hearing loss later.
The hearing checklist in the section below is also on the back of the following leaflet and will help you monitor your baby's speech and language skills as they grow:
These hearing checks are also in your baby's Well Child Tamariki Ora Health Book [5], to complete before each Well Child check. The Well Child Tamariki Ora checks include questions for you about your baby's hearing, speech and language progress. If you have concerns about the way your child listens or responds, please talk about it with your Well Child nurse, early childhood teacher or your family doctor.
If your baby does have a hearing loss, finding it early is good for their language, learning and social development.
The hearing checklist is also available in Māori [6], Samoan [7], Tongan [8], Korean [9], Hindi [10], Simplified Chinese [11] and Traditional Chinese [12].
Some babies may need a repeat screen because the earlier screening did not show a strong enough response in one or both ears. See:
If your baby's hearing screening shows that they need a further check, your doctor will refer them to a hearing specialist (audiologist). They will do more tests and give you more advice.
For more information about this referral and what help is available if your child is diagnosed with a hearing loss, see:
Your child's eyes should be checked soon after birth for what is known as a ‘red reflex'. Children who have an abnormal reflex are referred to an eye doctor (ophthalmologist). Some very premature babies need eye examinations when they are in the newborn unit.
This page last reviewed 15 August 2019.
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Links
[1] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screening-your-babys-hearing-screen-english-version
[2] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/system/files/resource-files/HE2429_Your%20baby%27s%20hearing%20screen_0.pdf
[3] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screen-results-english-version
[4] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/system/files/resource-files/HE1922_Newborn%20hearing%20screen%20results.pdf
[5] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/well-childtamariki-ora-health-book
[6] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screen-results-te-reo-m%C4%81ori-version
[7] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screen-results-samoan-version
[8] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screen-results-tongan-version
[9] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screen-results-korean-version
[10] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screen-results-hindi-version
[11] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screen-results-simplified-chinese-version
[12] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screen-results-traditional-chinese-version
[13] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/repeat-newborn-hearing-screen
[14] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/system/files/resource-files/HE1923_Repeat%20newborn%20screening.pdf
[15] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/newborn-hearing-screening-referral-audiologist-english-version
[16] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/system/files/resource-files/HE1924_Referral%20to%20audiologist.pdf
[17] https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/node/2059?language=en
[18] https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/node/1650?language=en
[19] https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/node/1649?language=en
[20] https://www.healthed.govt.nz/search?topic%5B0%5D=6&type=resource&mode=picture-view
[21] https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/contact?from=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kidshealth.org.nz%2Fprint%2F408%3Flanguage%3Den