Hearing Loss Facts

Newborn Hearing Screening and Your Baby

About 1 to 3 babies of every 1,000 babies are born with a permanent hearing loss. Because babies begin to learn speech and language during the first few months of life, it is very important that they have good hearing during this critical period of development.

• Hearing loss is the most common congenital condition in newborns.
• The majority of children with hearing losses are born to parents who have normal hearing.
• In the United States, 33 babies are born every day with hearing loss.
• There are many different types and degrees of hearing loss.
• Children as young as one month of age can be fitted with hearing aids.
• Most children with hearing losses have no other disability.
• When a child's hearing loss is diagnosed and treated early, he or she can develop language skills like a child without a hearing loss.
• Some babies are born with normal hearing but lose their hearing when they are older.

Finding out your baby has a hearing loss at an early age, provides the best opportunity to assist your child's speech and language development. This is important for your child's future learning, social, and emotional well-being.