The Sunshine Coast Private Hospital at Buderim’s Healthy Hearing Program recently celebrated its tenth consecutive year of offering hearing screens to newborn babies.
The Healthy Hearing Screen service for newborns at The Sunshine Coast Private Hospital is amongst the best in Queensland having recently achieving the highest rating possible by Queensland’s Healthy Hearing Program. It was also the first private hospital in Queensland to offer this service.
Sharon Dean, the Healthy Hearing Program Coordinator at the hospital, said the program aims to identify babies born with a permanent hearing loss and refer them on for further audiology assessment.
“In the vast majority of cases, this simple screen can provide parents with peace of mind and reassurance that their baby can hear them speak, to allow for normal speech and language development,” she said.
“We generally wait until after day two to conduct the screening - babies have usually established feeding by then and their ear canals have cleared.
“We wait until they are settled and sleepy after a feed, and then conduct the screen, which usually takes less than 10 minutes.
“Parents take great delight in the process and appreciate that they are so involved in the process. They usually take lots of pictures to remember the moment,” she said.
Current statistics show that approximately 1 or 2 babies out of every 1000 babies born will have a significant hearing loss – this equates to around 100 babies born in Queensland each year who have severe to profound hearing loss.
In 2014, the hospital’s maternity service expects to deliver and conduct its free Healthy Hearing Screen on more than 1,200 babies – more than ever before. The hospital proudly delivered its 10,000th baby earlier this year.
Wallis Westbrook, General Manager of the hospital, said he was proud to offer this service to its patients.
“As the only private maternity service on the Coast, we are proud to ensure that we offer the highest quality care to our patients – even the littlest ones,” he said.
“While having a baby is an incredibly joyous time, we are also conscious that for those whose child has experienced problems, whether they be related to their hearing or otherwise, we have the appropriate treatment and support available to help ease their stress and anxiety,” he said.
“Our midwives and specialists are incredibly skilled and compassionate people which is why our maternity service is regularly rated as one of the best in Australia by our patients.”
The Sunshine Coast Private Hospital is part of UnitingCare Health (UCH), a not-for-profit private healthcare provider as part of UnitingCare Queensland, the health and community services organisation for the Uniting Church in Queensland.
UCH is the only not-for-profit provider of private hospital services on the Sunshine Coast.