UAE: Dad elated as baby says 'mama, papa' after cochlear implant

Supplied photo

Abu Dhabi - Tawam Hospital has completed nine successful procedures since December 2018.

Published: Tue 31 Aug 2021, 6:55 PM

By
Ismail Sebugwaawo

The parents of a toddler were overwhelmed to hear their child call out ‘Mama and Papa’ for the first time, after a successful cochlear implant procedure in Abu Dhabi.

Medics at Tawam Hospital successfully performed the procedure on the15-month-old child with hearing problems, the latest at the facility.

The baby was first diagnosed with hearing loss as a result of a congenital deformity at birth. Following a thorough medical examination, Dr Ahmed Al Shamsi, along with the wider team at Tawam Hospital, which is part of Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), performed the procedure on both ears of the child.

The implants were then activated 20 days later to reduce exposure to anaesthesia and stimulate the hearing nerve on both sides at the same time on the same day, helping speed up her acclimatisation and speech learning process.

The father of the baby said: “My daughter showed great results, with clear auditory response when operating the cochlear. She is now able to learn new things and does not lag behind her peers in any way. As any parent can understand, we were extremely happy and emotional to hear her voice when she said ‘Mama and Papa’ for the first time. We are thankful to the entire team at Tawam Hospital for their incredible care and support.”

Tawam Hospital, which is part of the UAE’s largest healthcare network, said it was continuing with the success of its cochlear implant programme with the completion of nine procedures since the programme’s launch in December 2018. Part of the Hearing, Balance & Cochlear Implementation Clinic that falls under the ENT department, the programme offers world-class treatment methods to patients with profound, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss.

Dr Ahmed Al Shamsi, acting division chief, ENT, Tawam Hospital, said: “An approved treatment method since the 1980s, cochlear implementation achieves excellent results for children when performed at an early age, and is further complemented with post-operative auditory rehabilitation, also offered at Al Ain Hospital.”

ismail@khaleejtimes.com