Is hearing screening necessary for newborns? Why?

After the baby is born, the doctor will conduct a comprehensive examination to determine whether the baby has any problems and whether the baby is healthy. There are many tests after the baby is born, such as hearing screening, blood tests, etc.

A few years ago, the United States stipulated that only babies with 11 high-risk conditions need to undergo hearing screening. These conditions include: children with congenital brain malformations, Down syndrome, and those who have been admitted to the ICU ward for more than 2 years. Babies who are 10 days old, mothers who have used ototoxic drugs during pregnancy, mothers who have been exposed to rubella virus during pregnancy, etc. However, medical staff later discovered that this approach would lead to missed screening, and about half of the hearing loss occurred in normal children. As a result, the United States changed regulations in 2003 to require all newborns to be screened.

There are approximately 20,000 to 40,000 deaf children born in my country every year, and there are also a large number of children with severe and extremely severe hearing loss due to various reasons after birth. Babies in the first 3 months after birth can recognize the rhythm of articulation; babies in 6 months have a preference for the mother's speech sounds; babies in 7 months can pronounce regular syllables;

9-month-old babies have begun to call mom and dad. For this reason, the period of 7 to 12 months is called the initial language learning period. The development of the human auditory system begins after birth. After 1 year old, the speech center It develops gradually and can quickly acquire language by the age of 2. The best period for language acquisition is before the age of 7. Therefore, early intervention is necessary for deaf children. If there is no hearing screening, once the optimal period of language development is missed, the result will be deaf-mute. Therefore, hearing screening is important and urgent!