How do I know if my baby listens?
What is neonatal hearing screening?
This test measures the neuroelectrical response of the auditory system to a sound stimulus . It allows to study the function of the auditory nerve and guide the diagnosis in some auditory pathologies . You can also set the approximate threshold of hearing.
What are the tests that are performed?
The Colombian Ministry of Health recommends carrying out neonatal hearing screening tests called Otoacoustic emissions (OEA) either brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) to all healthy newborns, at term and without risk factors in the first month of life.
Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) – These are generated in response to a sound stimulus and can be seen in most normal ears. For registration, it is only necessary to place an earpiece in the baby's external auditory canal, according to age and size. Automated Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials (BAEPs) : Give information about the integrity of the auditory pathway to the brain. It can be performed in noisy environments, and has a very high specificity.
It is recommended to perform the tests, among the twenty days and the third month of life; for babies born after 37 weeks gestation. Based on these results, guidelines will be given to parents to consult with their doctor.
In case of finding an abnormal result in these, it is necessary to continue complementary studies, since hearing loss undiagnosed causes alterations in important areas of development such as the development of the oral language, social integration, Emotional development Y cognitive.
hearing loss It is defined as the condition in which there is a partial or total decrease in the ability to detect certain frequencies and intensities of sound, this can be of congenital or acquired cause.
Half of these babies have no clinical history that allows to suspect the diagnosis; are babies born into families of parents and siblings who hear normally, no risk factors at birth and no history of infectious diseases in their first months of life.
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