KEY POINTS

• Hearing loss is a common birth defect that can affect a baby’s ability to develop speech, language and social skills.
• Hearing loss can happen when any part of the ear isn’t working in the usual way.
• Most babies get their hearing checked as part of newborn screening before they leave the hospital after birth.
• If you think your baby may have hearing loss, tell her health care provider right away.
• Early treatment for hearing loss is important for your baby’s health and development.

What is hearing loss?

Hearing loss can happen when any part of the ear isn’t working in the usual way. It can range from mild to profound:

• Mild: You can hear some speech sounds, but soft sounds are hard to hear.
• Moderate: You can’t hear very many speech sounds when someone is talking at a normal level.
• Severe: You can’t hear any speech sounds when someone is talking at a normal level. You can only hear some loud sounds.
• Profound: You can’t hear any speech sounds. You can only hear very loud sounds.

Hearing loss is a common birth defect. Birth defects are structural changes present at birth that can affect almost any part of the body. They may affect how the body looks, works or both. Birth defects can cause problems in overall health, how the body develops, or how the body works. Up to 3 in 1,000 babies (less than 1 percent) are born with some kind of hearing loss in the United States each year.

When a baby is born with hearing loss, it’s called congenital hearing loss. Hearing loss also can develop later in babies or during childhood or adulthood. Learn more about from these sonus complete reviews | Health Mania news blog.

What are signs of hearing loss?

Signs of hearing loss in your baby can include:

• Not being startled by loud sounds
• Not turning toward a sound after he’s 6 months old
• Not saying single words like “mama” or “dada” by the time he’s 1 year old
• Turns his head if he sees you, but not if you only call out his name
• Seems to hear some sounds but not others

If your baby shows signs of hearing loss at any time, call his health care provider to get your baby’s hearing checked.