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Introduction to Screening

11

Conditions at Birth

Beth: How do you think hearing loss compares to other conditions at birth, like cleft palate, down syndrome, limb defects or spina bifida?

Jordan: I don't hear a lot about it, but I'm guessing it's more common than most people think

Beth: And you'd be surprised how common it is. In healthy babies - about 3 in every 1,000 babies are born with a permanent hearing loss. For babies in the neonatal intensive care unit what we call (NICU), hearing loss occurs in about one to two out of every 100 births in healthy babies..

Jordan: That's even higher than I thought. I guess I can really see why this kind of screening is so important.

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