AIM: To describe and compare transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) of neonates in a low-risk maternity hospital. METHOD: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was performed at the Gota de Leite Maternity hospital, which is linked to the Municipal Health Department of Marilia. All neonates were screened using Accu Screen equipment to determine their TEOAEs and DPOAEs. Pass/fail criteria were used for the data analyses. Neonates passed the TEOAE assessment when they responded to 8 peaks (equipment criteria) and the DPOAE assessment when they responded to 3 of the frequencies tested. RESULTS: Over a period of 1 month, 157 hearing screening tests were performed. In the sample studied, TEOAE responses were observed in the right ears of 98.1%, in the left ears of 97.4%, and in both ears of 96.2% of neonates. DPOAE responses were observed in the right ears of 96.1%, in the left ears of 97.4%, and in both ears of 94.2% of neonates. When the 2 procedures were compared, 144 neonates were found to have passed both, 7 had bilateral TEOAE passes but a unilateral DPOAE fail, 4 had a unilateral failure in both procedures, 1 had a unilateral TEOAE failure but bilateral DPOAE passes, and 1 had bilateral failures in both procedures. CONCLUSION: Thus, there was a high level of agreement between the procedures in terms of responses. The higher failure rate of the DPOAE assessments compared to the TEOAE assessments can be justified because DPOAEs are more susceptible to noise.