In 2021, Hearts for Hearing established its Newborn Hearing Screen Program to ensure babies in Oklahoma receive a screen after birth. Newborn hearing screens are essential for detecting possible hearing loss. Oklahoma law mandates that all babies born in the state receive a screen prior to discharge for early detection of hearing loss. Early diagnosis and intervention within weeks of birth allows a child born deaf or with hearing loss to have the opportunity to learn to listen and talk.
A newborn hearing screen measures a baby’s full hearing pathway responses and may help determine if the baby is detecting sound. It is called an Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) screen.
Two to three of every 1,000 newborns in the United States are born with some type of hearing loss. Identification through newborn hearing screening and early intervention provides the best opportunity for babies to be able to listen and talk, and increase their quality of life.
Learn More About Our Newborn Hearing Screen Program
Learn More About Our Newborn Hearing Screen Program
Peter, 23 years old now, was the first baby in the state of Oklahoma identified with hearing loss through Oklahoma’s mandated newborn hearing screening program