Dr Kerryn Phelps, Health Editor, 'Today', Nine Network with Steve Liebmann

LIEBMANN: This is an Australian first.

PHELPS: It is an Australian first. We have other States who have some newborn screening programs, but they're not what we call universal, that is, every child in the state to get the hearing test. In Western Australia, for example, they had a very successful program where they had the children who were born in the major metropolitan public hospitals who were screened. But that left out about half the State. In New South Wales, now, we'll be looking at universal screening which is the way they're going in the United States, Canada and parts of Europe.

LIEBMANN: Why does a baby need a hearing check, and when we talk baby, at what age should they have it?

PHELPS: In the first month of life is ideal, and certainly by six months, because children are starting to develop language skills, they're listening to words, they're listening to language from the moment that they're born, and the longer you leave it without detecting a hearing impairment, the longer you're going to have problems with development of language. Now, if you don't screen, the average age that a child is, or if you only screen children who have some sort of risk factor, then the average age that you'll pick up that hearing impairment is two years of age, and they've lost a lot of that speech development by that stage. If you can pick up babies in the early period, certainly before six months, you're going to be able to help them develop language, help them develop social skills, help them be able to develop speech, virtually at a normal rate.

LIEBMANN: So, what's involved in the test and how unsettling, if it is unsettling, at all, is it to the baby?

PHELPS: It's not unsettling, at all. They put some soft-padded earphones on the baby when they're in their quiet state or in their natural sleep state, some soft clicking noises are put through the headphones and then a sort of an echo coming back from normal hearing will be detected. Now, if that test is not normal, the child will be referred for further testing. But, to be able to detect with such a simple test, at an early age, will really save a great deal of heartache and difficultly for children growing up.

LIEBMANN: Can the parents stay with the child while the test's being conducted?

PHELPS: Yes, of course they can. But, of course, parents and grandparents are going to be the people who will detect hearing problems that can come on later in life. Of course, about 90 per cent of children who are found to have severe hearing impairment at age five will have had it since birth. But, there are other children who can develop hearing problems throughout childhood, either from ear infections or from problems from like meningitis or measles, and it's very important that parents and grandparents are aware and obviously, teachers are also, of what children are doing in terms of their language development. Are they copying sounds? Are they making noises? Are they developing their language skills? Are they adding words to their vocabulary? Are they startling to loud noises? These are the sorts of things that parents can notice.

LIEBMANN: Just quickly, does it take long?

PHELPS: Does it take long? No, it doesn't, it only takes a few minutes, about 10 minutes to do the test and it's all over, and then, you know, if it's a normal hearing test and the child is developing normally then, you know, then that's fantastic. If it's not, you need to know, because there is a lot of intervention that can be done from a very early age with hearing devices and speech and language training, which is so important to do it at the earliest possible stage.

LIEBMANN: Good on you. See you next week.

PHELPS: Thank you.

Ends