My newborn failed 2 hearing tests

[wabetta]

Hi i am a first time mum and would like some advice if possible.
My newborn failed her hearing test a few hours after she was born, and it was repeated at the audiology department of the local hospital. I was initally told dont worry she has probably got fluid in her ear from the delivery.
The second hearing test was long and involved lots of different tests putting stickers on head and ears and looking at the bone conduction. After the second test i was told that my baby had failed all the tests and has moderate hearing loss in both ears .She will need to wear hearing aids in both ears.
I am going back to the audiology department for repeat testing with some ENT doctors ,peaditrician, and a teacher of the deaf. I am quite shocked and obviously upset about the diagnosis but she does have some hearing ,she has high frequency hearing loss and probably cant hear much after 1meter.
The hospital want to do all sorts of tests on baby such as MRI scan,blood tests ect to find out what caused this hearing loss.
I am wondering if anyone has any experience of having a young baby with hearing loss and using hearing aids. I am worried about my babys development especially speech.
No one as far as anyone can remember in my family or my partners family have had any history of hearing loss..
Any advice , experiences and tips would be appreciated as both myself and my partner are worried sick about using the hearing aids and what it will mean to my baby in terms of her development,
Thank you for reading this.

Hi wabetta, congratulations My dd3 is deaf as part of a genetic condition, moderate loss on one side and profound loss the other. The very first thing to do is get in touch with the ndcs if you haven't already, they are fab and run newly identified/diagnosed weekends which are really good and free! The battery of tests is the usual response and whilst good they are offering straight away it is a bit overwhelming but it will make sure you are offered the right support if/when needed.

dd3's hearing loss wasn't confirmed until she was a year old so older than your dd, hearing aids have been . . . interesting really nothing to be apprehensive about, they're pretty tough wearing and take a bit of a battering. You should be offered a choice of colours for the aids and the moulds and there are various things to help keep them on, if she's very little moulds can need redoing every couple of weeks but as she gets older they will last longer. Dd3 is 5 now and is really good at keeping them in and has been for a few years, before that she could be a little hit or miss as to whether she wanted them in or not and that's fairly common.

if she's 'just' deaf and she's well aided with a moderate loss then there's no reason why her speech should be adversely affected. You may be able to get speech therapy or your teacher of the deaf may work with her on a regular basis to make sure she stays on track, your teacher of the deaf will also be able to give you plenty of hints and tips on good communication, usually make sure you're facing your baby when you speak and get her attention first, things like that can help. You may want to think about sign language but you've plenty of time to decide if she's still very young.

Thank you ninjagoose!
Its reassuring to hear other peoples experiences. I had a look at the website and there is a lot of helpful info and resources on there.I feel quite positive about the future and feel slighly better prepared.

Another mum of a deaf dd, albeit I found out much later. There's lots of help out there if you look for it. Audiology will put you in touch with local services, you should get a teacher of the deaf and if you get good aids early you shouldn't have speech delay. Have a look at auditory verbal therapy as they have programmes for early intervention. By the way my daughter is profoundly deaf but goes to a mainstream school and has normal speech and language ( she has cochlear implants). There's lots of options and help available and not the diagnosis it was 20 years ago.

hi thanks hatchypom for the help and advice I will definatly look at auditory verbal therapy. I feel better knowing that there is so much help out there if you know where to look!!My daughter has her hearing aids fitted on tuesday so i guess there will be no stopping her soon!!

hope all goes well tuesday