C-Section Babies Get A Whopping ‘F’ On Initial Hearing Tests
Reuters reports that a study of 1,600 infants in an Israeli hospital determined that 21% of c-section tots failed their initial hearing test before leaving the hospital. Their vaginally-birthed counterparts, tested at also two days old, failed at only 7%. Yet beyond the two-day mark, the infants’ hearing tests eventually evened out with 8% of c-section infants failing versus 1% of naturally birthed infants — the takeaway being that initial hearing tests for newborns should be delayed.
As for what causes c-section babies to send their new parents into a panic, the explanation is far from worrisome:
[Dr. Tatiana Smolkin and Dr. Imad R. Makhoul] said it is likely related to fluids in the middle ear. Normally, a baby’s journey through the birth canal pushes those fluids out. A baby born by C-section bypasses all of that — and the middle-ear fluids are retained for a couple days.
Deep breaths mommies and daddies. Deep breaths.
(photo: Keith Bell/ Shutterstock)