Although a new mom won't hear that cherished "Mama" from her baby for many months, her child's future language development relies on how well her newborn hears. A hearing loss detected at infancy rather than delayed until a child?s toddler years will enable parents and professionals to greatly aid the child?s speech and language development.

All new parents at Spencer Hospital are offered a free hearing screening for their newborn. The screening only takes a few minutes. Since the screening works best on a quiet baby, a sleepy newborn is an ideal candidate. An audiologist from the Area Education Agency reviews and interprets all tests, then notifies the parents of the results.

The infant hearing screening equipment was purchased for Spencer Hospital through the generosity of the Spencer Regional Healthcare Foundation and a grant from the Iowa Department of Health.