From today, parents of all babies born at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) will be offered a hearing screening test for their baby prior to being discharged.
The test is available free of charge.
Any baby who does not have a clear response in one or both ears from the test will be seen for a full hearing assessment at an audiology clinic in Cork University Hospital shortly after discharge.
The test will be carried out by a trained hearing screener while the baby is settled or sleeping, usually at the mother's bedside. The screener uses two non-invasive tests to screen the baby's hearing with neither test causing any discomfort.
Babies born through the HSE's homebirth scheme will also be included in the programme. Arrangements are in place to have these babies' hearing tested at an outpatients clinic at the hospital within weeks of their birth.
The referral rates for babies to the audiology clinic will be relatively low - estimated at about 2 -4 per cent of all babies tested. The referral does not necessarily signify hearing loss. It could be due to a number of other factors including fluid or a temporary blockage in the ears after birth; too much background noise in the room where the test was carried out; and the baby being unsettled at the time of the test.
Peter O'Sullivan, consultant ear nose and throat surgeon and chairman of the Cork newborn hearing screening implementation group, said the earlier hearing loss can be picked up in a baby the better the outcome that baby will have. "It is therefore very important to screen all babies at an early stage. In Ireland, one to two babies in every 1,000 are born with a hearing loss in one or both ears. Most babies born with a hearing loss are born into families with no history of hearing loss."
Dr Brendan Paul Murphy, consultant neonatologist, at CUMH, said the programme aims to identify hearing impairment as soon as possible after birth to give babies a better chance of developing speech and language skills and to make the most of social and emotional interaction from an early age.
"Babies who spend time in a special care baby unit have a higher incidence of hearing loss, these babies will be tested during their time in the unit."