PURPOSE: to check the practice of newborn hearing screening in Curitiba-PR. METHODS: a survey was initially conducted to check the number of existing maternities and hospitals with maternities included in the National Register of Health's Establishments. We found that 59 hospitals were registered; three are maternities and 18 are hospitals that include a maternity. We asked each of the professionals in charge for the institution if some kind of newborn hearing screening was conducted and, for those who had the service, a questionnaire was given in order to collect information on the program. RESULTS: we found that 23.8% of the institutions perform newborn hearing screening. In 20% of them, this service is universal for full term babies, while in 80% of them it is available for premature/high risk babies. All of the services use Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAE). CONCLUSION: we concluded that the Brazilian law number 14588 - 22/12/2004 is not being followed. Despite of the need and the importance for early detection of hearing loss, hearing screening is not accomplished in all maternities. In places where such screening takes place, it is not universal.
Hearing; Hearing Loss; Neonatal Screening
