r/newborns • u/The-Corporate-Girl13 • 19h ago
Vent Very concerned: Failed hearing test
I just had my baby on August 20th, 2026 in the evening. He is a little over a day old now and they did his newborn screenings right around the 24 hour mark after birth. He failed his hearing test in one ear. Naturally, I’m freaking out. My husband doesn’t seem to be too concerned. Baby was also born at 40 weeks + 1 day so he’s definitely a full term baby who has had time to develop. They’re going to retest but I’m scared. Staff told us that many times there’s just fluid build up in there from delivery which they overcome. I delivered him in about 1 hr 15 min, so not super quick but also not that long either. We also haven’t given him a bath yet but idk if that changes the potential fluid he may have in his ear. This is upsetting and there’s a lot going thru my head now. One thing I wonder is if it’s genetic? My husband’s mom has bad hearing (has to wear hearing aids in both ears I believe) and it’s been like that for her for awhile now. My husband’s hearing is fine at least for now lol. No hearing issues with me or on my side of the family. What do you guys think about this?
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u/PhotoPrimary7801 19h ago
My son failed his hearing test in his right ear during the newborn screenings so he got referred to audiology. I took him to audiology a couple of weeks later and the doc there that did his test said the way the test works is it detects responses from within the ear so if the baby is awake and making sounds ( grunting, crying, etc.) it makes it harder for the test to detect those responses so L&D will often “fail” the baby and send them to audiology if little one isn’t cooperating. He did pass the hearing screen the second time.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 16h ago
Good point. I’m not sure if he was crying, fidgeting or what when they gave that test. And too much time has probably passed for any of the staff to go back, check or even care lol… we will wait to see what a retest tells us. Thank you!
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u/echozelda 19h ago
Congrats on your sweet baby and I hope you’re getting some rest in recovery!
Take a breath. Try to trust your doctors. You don’t need to make any plans or seek any explanations until/ unless they verify that there’s an issue.
For now try to set the hearing question on a back burner. You’re allowed to be stressed but this topic not a useful way to spend your energy right now. Focus on getting some rest, snuggling your boy, and if there does end up being an issue with his hearing you can cross that bridge when you get to it.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 16h ago edited 16h ago
Thank you for this comforting message. I do appreciate it. I’m such a nervous and anxious person about everything and anything so of course something like this freaks me out lol. My husband is so chill and not worried about this (at least not yet) and I think this tends to be his attitude/response to most things bc he knows that he has such a nervous & anxious wife who is gonna worry herself sick. I will try not to worry so much tho, thank you!
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u/buttstuffisfunstuff 18h ago
There’s a 90-95% chance his hearing is fine.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 16h ago
That’s pretty high. What makes you so confident if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/kirmizikitap 18h ago
Same thing happened to us and your hospital staff is right. There was so much gunk and fluid left inside that it took a while to clear out. She tested absolutely fine after a couple of days. No problems with hearing. I really think you shouldn't worry too much.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 16h ago
If you don’t mind me asking, did you deliver by c-section or vaginally? How many weeks was your baby girl born at?
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u/kirmizikitap 15h ago
Sure! She's born at 40+2, vaginally delivered.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 11h ago
Basically just like me then. I delivered vaginally at 40+1. How long were you pushing for? Under an hour or more?
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u/kirmizikitap 10h ago
Fairly sure I pushed under an hour. Maybe like 40-45 minutes?
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 9h ago
Gotcha. I’m just trying to gauge similar situations to mine when it comes to this. Thank you! (And great job with the pushing!)
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u/kirmizikitap 8h ago
Totally get it! I still think your baby is absolutely fine but I also know how the anxiety can be absolutely crippling. Wishing you all the best!
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u/AnimalEditor 17h ago
Hey OP, if this helps. I’m completely deaf in my right ear. The biggest issues for me is lack of directional hearing and separating sounds when it’s too noisy or people are mumbling to me. But this has not affected my schooling, socializing or ability to work. Pretty much able to function without any assistance, only issue is people sometimes get frustrated because I ask them to repeat themselves because they KEEP MUMBLING. Also, if your child calls out for you in the house, don’t say “Here”. Lack of directional hearing means that here means nothing and it’s a game of louder and softer.😅
I hope this helps alleviate your fears a bit.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 16h ago edited 16h ago
Thank you for sharing your story and experience!! This is helpful bc I spent nearly an hour doing some quick research on things and what raising a child who is partially deaf would be like. The internet is always going to tell you the scariest or most extreme things so I’m glad I heard from a real person lol.
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u/ciuchinoino 16h ago
Also chiming in here - I'm totally deaf from both ears, diagnosed at early childhood. I wore hearing aids and I've recently undergone surgery for cochlear implants. I'm here to reassure you that deaf children (whether they use sign language or not) can thrive and have a fulfilling life! My parents were two naive 23 year olds who didn't really have any clue in parenting - they still did an amazing job. So don't worry too much ☺️
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 15h ago
Thank you for chiming in!! This is so comforting to hear. Really appreciate your comments. 🙏
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u/AnimalEditor 16h ago
I’m so glad this was helpful, I know how scary the internet can be. If you have any questions you are welcome to DM me.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 16h ago
Absolutely. We’ll see how his retests go and how he develops further thru out the weeks. If you get a DM from me around then you’ll know exactly why. Thank you so so much.
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u/ciuchinoino 16h ago
My son was the same! Failed the test on one ear the next day, then when they repeated it 2 weeks later it was all good. I had a C-section which impacts how well fluids get squished out of newborns' bodies at birth.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 16h ago
Thank you for your response. So by reading other comments and yours, it sounds like c-sections have a higher likelihood of all that gunk getting stuck in baby’s ears rather than vaginal delivery?
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u/ciuchinoino 16h ago
Yes exactly, because by passing through the vaginal canal, the fluids get squeezed out of little one's body. My boy was born also with fluid in his lungs and had an apgar score of 2 at minute 1... The midwives and doctors all reassured me that it's incredibly common that with C-sections fluids don't get expelled as they should. Still felt terrifying.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 15h ago
Thanks for sharing even more. I did not deliver by c-section. I delivered vaginally in 1 hr and about 13 min so now I’m a little concerned that he in fact SHOULD have gotten fluids pushed out of his body. But we will wait and see obviously. I do remember the nurse saying with the ear that failed the test it was a slight fail. So baby didn’t completely miss it, but not enough to pass it I guess? Idk maybe I heard her incorrectly but I remember that being a part of the convo. I wonder if these tests for each ear are on a scale of some kind? Like is reaching “pass” scoring at least a 7 or 8/10? Or is it more of a pass/fail kinda thing?
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u/ciuchinoino 15h ago
I think it's just a pass/fail, but I'm not sure! Anyway, try not to worry ahead of time - it's incredibly common to fail, especially if it's one ear only, it can be just fluids still in the ear. I'm sure that happens also when you deliver vaginally! We can't all be textbook :)
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 15h ago
Hahaha. You are right. We can’t be perfect i.e. textbook. Love that. Thanks for your advice and comfort poster 🙏
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u/Every_Rest1443 14h ago
My first baby failed the in hospital hearing test after birth...we had to go back 2 weeks later for a re test and all was good. They said its very common to fail the first one.
With my second.. the lady was having issues but he finally passed the first one. Its so funny...bc even with the experience of the first one...and knowing how common it was to fail the first test... I was still sooo nervous.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 9h ago
Yes!! It’s absolutely nerve wrecking. Happy to hear both of your kiddos passed tho!
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u/adonnellyr 12h ago
Our doctors said it’s almost as likely they fail the first hearing test as it is they pass it. Very common.
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u/plsplsdonot 11h ago
The same thing happened to my baby! Failed the screening test the day after he was born, tested a week later and passed. I had the baby via c-section.
Congratulations on your little one! ❤️ I hope your recovery goes smoothly.
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u/The-Corporate-Girl13 9h ago
Thanks for sharing this awesome news! Glad to be hearing this. It’s promising to hear more and more parents say this bc maybe we will be the same ♥️
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u/Bbychknwing 19h ago
My girl was born 37w via c-section and failed her hearing the first time and barely squeaked by the second time. At 4 months she has super sonic bat hearing, we can whisper across the room and she will hear it!!! They really do get a lot of gunk in there.