SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- As many as three children per 1,000 born in the United States are born with some sort of hearing problem.

Now, those problems can be found sooner, thanks to a bill Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law Tuesday. AB 2651 by Assemblymember Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) requires hearing screening for all newborn babies. California is the only state in the nation that did not require universal newborn screening, until now.

But at University of California at Davis Medical Center, it is standard practice, unless the parents object for religious purposes.

Tuesday at UC Davis, coordinator Gina Kirkendall tested Alexandra for any hearing problems. "It used to be 12-24 months before we detected hearing loss, and it was usually detected by the mom," said Kirkendall.

Now, hearing tests can be done right in the maternity wing. In the mother's hospital room, Kirkendall used a small microphone to measure the movements of the hairs in Alexandra's ears. With a couple of clicks and tones, specialists determined if the baby was born with any hearing problems.

Dr. Lindsey Albrecht said right after birth is the perfect time to test.

"There have been many studies with early intervention dramatically improve the outcome, for these children, so if these children require hearing aids or special inventions, if we do it early," said Dr. Albrecht.

The test is easy and painless and the results in Alexandra's case were good. "She passed both ears," Kirkendall told the parents.

The baby didn't pay much attention. She practically slept through the whole process.