Intrauterine hypoxia as a cause of hearing impairment in children.

Among more than 10,000 mothers giving birth during 1974-1977, there were 20 known cases of severe placental insufficiency in connection with hypertensive disease during pregnancy. Well-documented signs of intrauterine hypoxia were observed in all the cases. In 50% of the fetuses intrauterine growth retardation was found to be below the 10th percentile curve. In most cases the baby was delivered by means of a caesarean section. The hearing level of these infants was examined at the age of 2-5 years. In these 20 children there were no signs of sensorineural hearing loss; however, because of the size of the population, the conclusions drawn from this thorough work must be tentative. It seems that with good maternity care and thorough treatment hearing loss due to intrauterine hypoxia can be prevented.