Every year in Ontario, approximately four in 1000 babies are born deaf or hard of hearing or will develop early progressive childhood hearing loss. About half of these babies will have a risk factor that indicates they might have a hearing loss. The other half will not.

The Ontario Infant Hearing Program has been put in place to find all of these babies as early as possible and give them the help they need so they can have the best possible start in life. So even though your baby does not have a known risk factor for hearing loss, it is still very important to have the hearing screening.

Your baby will be screened in the hospital before you both go home. The technology used is completely safe and reliable. It will not hurt your baby. Your baby will probably sleep through the whole experience. The machine used for the screening is called a DPOAE (Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission). A very small earphone is placed in the baby's ear and soft sounds are played through it. The ear's response to these sounds is measured and recorded. The entire screening takes just a few minutes, and will give you results right away.

Most babies will receive a pass result, which means their hearing is fine at that time.

In a very small number of the babies that pass the screening, a hearing loss may develop at a later age. It is therefore important to watch for signs of hearing loss as your baby grows. The ages and stages guide at the end of this brochure will help you.

When the screening result is refer, your baby will need a second screening. Most babies who receive a refer result have perfectly normal hearing. A slight cold or stuffiness, earwax, fidgeting, or even noise in the room are the most likely reasons for the refer result. Because finding those babies who are born deaf or hard of hearing is so important, all babies with a "refer" result must have a second screening with a different machine. Wherever possible this will take place before you leave the hospital. If your baby needs another screening after you leave the hospital an appointment will be made for you in your community. Make sure you keep the appointment.

Screening is the first step in finding babies who are deaf or hard of hearing. There are many services in place to help these infants. The earlier they are identified, the more time there is to take advantage of these services. With support, children who are deaf or hard of hearing can grow up learning language and communicating just like children who hear normally.

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