Answer:

Newborns learn language by listening to sounds around them. However, according to the American Academy of Audiology, approximately 3-6 out of 1,000 babies are born with hearing loss. Most cases show no clear signs as infants cannot express their hearing ability. This can hinder language and communication development, leading to delayed speech or deaf-muteness.

Congenital hearing loss, caused by gene mutations, can be recessively inherited from parents with normal hearing or linked to syndromes such as Down, Pendred, Usher, and Waardenburg. These abnormalities affect the inner ear structures or the auditory nerve.

Infections during pregnancy, including cytomegalovirus (CMV), rubella, toxoplasma, herpes, and syphilis, can also damage the fetal inner ear. Factors such as premature birth, low birth weight, severe jaundice requiring blood transfusion, oxygen deprivation during labor, and meningitis also increase the risk of hearing loss.

The period before 3 years of age is a "golden window" for the brain to learn sound processing and speech formation. Therefore, newborn hearing screening assesses auditory function, enabling early detection and timely intervention. This improves language skills, academic performance, and social communication abilities.

Experts recommend that all newborns undergo hearing screening, especially those born prematurely, with infections during pregnancy, or with a family history of congenital hearing impairment.

Infants undergo hearing screening at the Neonatal Center. Photo: Tam Anh General Hospital

Hearing screening is a non-invasive, painless technique that checks if a child's auditory system is functioning normally. The common method involves placing a small probe in the baby's ear to record cochlear responses to sound stimulation. The process takes about 10 minutes and is typically performed while the baby is sleeping or lying still.

The best time for screening is 24-48 hours after birth. If this window is missed, parents should still have their child tested at specialized facilities within the first month of life to ensure normal hearing function.

If the initial screening result is unsatisfactory, it may be due to residual amniotic fluid in the baby's ear. In such cases, the doctor will schedule a retest after 2-4 weeks. If the second test also yields an unsatisfactory result, the baby will require a comprehensive hearing evaluation before 3 months of age.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), proper intervention with hearing aids or specialized therapies before 6 months of age provides children with an opportunity for nearly normal language and intellectual development.

Dr. Nguyen Minh Thanh Giang

Neonatal Center

Tam Anh General Hospital Ho Chi Minh City