March 3, 2016 is China’s 17th “Ear Care Day”, but also the World Health Organization’s fourth “International Ear Care Day”, and this “Ear Care Day” and “World Hearing Day” coincide with the theme of “focus on children’s hearing health”. “World Hearing Day” coincided with the theme of “attention to children’s hearing health”. The sixth census data show that the total number of children aged 0-14 in China is more than 220 million, and the results of the second national sample survey of persons with disabilities show that the current disability rate of hearing disability in China is about 2.11%, which is estimated that the total number of children aged 0-14 with hearing impairment is more than 4.6 million. Therefore, it is of great significance to pay attention to children’s hearing health, and newborn hearing screening is the most effective measure for “early detection, early intervention and early rehabilitation” of newborns and infants with hearing impairment. Why do we need newborn hearing screening? To determine whether a newborn baby has normal hearing, it is not rigorous and reliable to use only daily observation and verbal calls. It is affected by many factors such as the surrounding environment, visual disturbances, false-positive responses and so on, which leads to parents not being able to detect hearing disorders other than severe hearing loss in a timely manner, and even not being able to accurately determine whether their babies are able to hear sounds or not. Newborn hearing screening can detect possible hearing impairment in the first instance, so that early treatment and intervention measures can be taken. The vast majority of children with hearing impairment, after timely treatment, wearing appropriate assistive devices and scientific rehabilitation training, can obtain near-normal hearing and speech ability, for future learning, work and social interaction are very helpful. Newborn hearing screening time and method The initial screening of newborn hearing screening adopts otorhinolaryngology, for newborns with normal delivery, the initial hearing screening will be conducted 48-72 hours after the baby is born; for newborns admitted into the NICU hospitalization, the initial hearing screening should be conducted after stabilization of the condition or before the discharge of the hospital. All babies who do not pass the initial screening and who have high risk factors for hearing loss at birth should receive a repeat hearing screening around 42 days after birth, which is a combination of otoacoustic emission and automated auditory brainstem response to provide a more reliable and comprehensive understanding of the baby’s hearing status. The “pass” result of the initial screening means that the baby’s “cochlea-middle ear-outer ear” pathway is functioning normally, and it can be judged that the baby’s hearing is basically normal, but it cannot exclude the rare disease of the auditory nerve and the auditory conduction pathway above, therefore, if the condition permits, the baby’s hearing can be evaluated. Therefore, if conditions permit, the initial screening “through” should also try to go to the hospital for a more complete and comprehensive hearing re-screening. What should I do if my baby “passes” the newborn hearing screening? If your baby passes the newborn hearing screening, it means that he/she has normal hearing function, but there is still a possibility that your baby may have delayed hearing loss, so every baby should be evaluated every year from age 1 to 6. In addition, at any time, if parents notice that their child may be experiencing hearing loss, they should seek prompt medical attention to detect late-onset hearing loss. What should I do if my child “fails” the newborn hearing screening? If your baby fails any of the screening tests, it means that your baby has a hearing problem, and the degree of hearing loss varies greatly depending on the nature of the lesion. It is necessary to go to the hospital at the age of 3 months for a comprehensive audiological diagnosis to confirm the nature and degree of hearing loss.