Vision and Hearing
Newborn babies arrive equipped with wonderful abilities to see and
hear. Although their vision is not as sharp as that of an adult's, newborn
babies show responses to the mother's face in the earliest days of life.
Babies also have remarkable responses to sounds. They startle with loud
noises and often become quiet to the mother's voice.
Sometimes, babies have problems with vision or hearing. These problems
may be due to a birth defect, or may be caused by the effects of
prematurity.
Because vision and hearing are such vital senses, screening programs
for vision and hearing problems are used in the neonatal intensive care
units (NICU). Babies who are at risk are tested for loss of vision and
hearing so that treatment or therapy can be started right away.
Vision and hearing loss in babies requires clinical care by a physician
or other healthcare professional. Listed in the directory below is some
additional information regarding vision and hearing, for which we have
provided a brief overview.
If you cannot find the information in which you are interested, please
visit the High-Risk Newborn Online Resources page
in this Web site for an Internet/World Wide Web address that may contain
additional information on that topic.
|
