New Capital Equipment for Newborn Hearing Screening

Hearing and Speech Nova Scotia audiology services span a comprehensive continuum of care (screening, diagnosis, treatment, education) for hearing loss, balance, auditory processing, and related communication disorders. The typical day of a HSNS Audiologist can include seeing Nova Scotians of all ages from newborns to seniors.

The Newborn Hearing Screening Program consists of screening babies’ hearing hours after their birth. This is done through a test that measures the energy produced by healthy ears by placing a small probe in the baby’s ear. The screening equipment will then measure soft echoes or emissions in the inner ear. If these echoes are not recorded, the Audiologist will use another piece of equipment to test the hearing nerve.

If a hearing loss is confirmed through further diagnostic testing, the Audiologist will work with the family to present the best treatment options for the baby and family. For many families, this means fitting their child with hearing aids. A specialized computer helps the Audiologist fit the hearing aids to the baby’s loss, making sure that soft and medium volume sounds are amplified, while loud sounds are processed to protect the baby’s ears from further damage.

The goals for the program are to have 95% of the babies born in Nova Scotia screened, to detect a hearing loss by three months of age, and if a hearing loss is present, and in collaboration with the child’s family, to have a plan in place to support that child’s communication development by six months of age.

We continue to be very proud of our Newborn hearing screening program. Nova Scotia stands shoulder to shoulder with larger provinces in meeting national standards for this program.

This year… 97% of all newborn babies received hearing screening in 2022

Nova Scotia is one of six provinces/territories that meets all five requirements for an Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program, monitored by the Canadian Infant Hearing Task Force. These components include:  

  1. Universal hearing screening of newborns  

  2. Identification of babies with permanent hearing loss  

  3. Intervention services which include support for technology and communication development  

  4. Family Support  

  5. Monitoring and evaluation of the program 

Newborn Hearing Screening program remains a high priority at HSNS

Hearing and Speech Nova Scotia is grateful to have received funds from the Department of Health and Wellness (DHW) to replace the aging screening and diagnostic equipment used for newborn hearing screening. We thank DHW for their ongoing support. 

The success of the Newborn Hearing Screening Program comes from the hard work and dedication of our Communication Disorder Technicians (CDTs), our Administrative Support Professionals (ASPs), and our Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists. We are also proud to partner with the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority (APSEA) to ensure the continued success of this program.