The Newborn Hearing Feasibility Study

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) remains the leading cause of post-neonatal infant mortality in western societies and the third highest cause of infant death overall. This project has the potential to make a key advance in furthering our understanding of SIDS and the ability to detect infants at risk prior to a fatal event.

What is the aim of this study?

To investigate whether any feature of the routinely collected newborn hearing screen test, either alone or in combination with other risk factors, can be used immediately after birth to identify infants at increased risk of unexpected death later in infancy. 

Why is it needed? 

Sudden Infant Death (SIDS) remains the leading cause of post-neonatal infant mortality in western societies and the third highest cause of infant death overall. We do not know the cause of SIDS. 

What does the study involve? 

In 2008 a pilot study in Rhode Island USA initiated by Dr Daniel Rubens identified that 31 infants who had died of SIDS had lowered hearing test results in the right ear at birth. This study was important since it offered the first possibility that, by using a screening test routinely carried out on almost all newborn babies we might be able to predict which babies are at risk of dying – and thus gave the possibility in the future of preventing some of the deaths. Based on this work, Professor Fleming and his team working in collaboration with Daniel Rubens in Seattle, will continue this work here in the UK. The large scale study will take approximately two years to complete. 

Teddy’s Wish contributed £50,000