April 2009 - Baby Born Without Ears

Looking at the sparkly-eyed, beautiful baby in her mother’s arms it was hard to imagine anything being wrong with this two month old. But we knew from the distress her mother Josephine was in that something was terribly wrong. Josephine broke down crying as she pulled back the blanket covering baby Danna’s head. We were shocked to see that instead of ears this baby only had little stubby growths. “Please help us!” the mother begged.

Thanks be to God we were able to get Danna an appointment with the only pediatric audiologist in El Paso. She told us on the phone, “If the baby’s auditory nerve is not damaged we can fit her with hearing aids. That way she can learn to speak as she grows up. However, if the nerve is damaged there’s nothing we can do and she will be deaf and mute all her life.”

On the day of the appointment we brought Danna and her parents into El Paso and took them to the clinic. The audiologist, who was volunteering her time and service, attached the monitors to the baby’s head with some sticky adhesive, then sat at her computer watching the screen. Suddenly she announced, “She’s listening!” Josephine’s face lit up and she smiled at her husband in relief. Everyone was thrilled at this great news.

After completing the tests, the technician brought out a little white, stretchy headband and inserted a transmitter into it. She positioned the transmitter behind one of Danna’s ears. Then in the front of the headband, on the baby’s forehead, she put a little microphone. “Now you need to speak to Danna a lot and aim your voice at the microphone,” she instructed the parents. “The microphone sends the signal to the transmitter which then bypasses the blockage and transmits sound waves to the inner ear. She will now be able to hear your voices and eventually she will learn how to speak, just like a normal child would.” The parents paid close attention to all they were being told and learned how they would have to rotate the transmitter — one day on the left side, one day on the right side — and change the batteries as needed. They are very responsible and caring parents and we know they will do fine with the whole process.

We need to bring Danna back a year from now for a check-up and evaluation. And maybe when she is around 5 years old we can see about getting her some reconstructive surgery. But in the meantime she can hear sounds and distinguish voices which will enable her to learn how to speak. Her family is so grateful, and so are we!