I wanted to add a personal anecdote to the discussion on hearing tests and
breastfeeding:  my son spent four days in NICU because of meconium aspiration
(initial APGAR of 1), and it was one of the most trying experiences of my life.
 ABR testing was routinely performed on babies before discharge, but I declined
the test.  To be honest, I should say that I did so partly based on
misinformation.  (I thought sedation was required.)  But I'm also a pediatric
speech pathologist, and I would have been on the alert if he had been three
seconds late with a speech-language milestone.

The real issue, though, was that I was sick of the NICU--sick of feeling like my
child was a pathological process waiting to happen, or nothing more than a
checklist, or not really my child but the property of the unit (and maybe they
would let me hold him if I was good).  ABR testing was one more procedure, one
more way to say "ooh, maybe *this* is wrong with your child," and it meant one
more stranger handling him less gently than I would.  I knew I could decline
the test without compromising his well-being, and so I did.  The staff did not
support my decision.

I'm just musing here, but I wonder if rigidity about procedures like ABR is
connected to rigidity in other areas.  This unit, for instance, did a dreadful
job with helping us get breastfeeding off the ground.  When I balked at giving
my expressed milk in a bottle, they gave me a handout with a name like
"Nipple Confusion:  Does It Exist?" (you can guess what the conclusion was);
when I wrote a letter afterward suggesting improvements--radical things like
privacy, quiet, and comfortable chairs for nursing mothers--the unit manager
called me up and said, "Nice thought; sorry you had trouble; there's no way we
can make those changes."

Please note:  I am a staunch proponent of early detection/intervention for
children with hearing impairment.  I also don't mean to bash NICU staff:  you
guys have a tough job which I am sure you usually perform with compassion and
gentleness.  Unfortunately, that was not our experience.  I just wanted to
offer our story to support Valerie's suggestion that innocuous-seeming
procedures may not be so innocuous.

Jamie Smith
LLLL in Edinburgh (this was an American hospital, btw)

P.S.  My son made an uncomplicated recovery and nursed beautifully after his
jailbreak (oops, I mean discharge).

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