  The presence of a small amount of hydrogen is expected in most single
degenerate scenarios for producing a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia). While hydrogen
may be detected in very early high resolution optical spectra, in early radio
spectra, and in X-ray spectra, here we examine the possibility of detecting
hydrogen in early low resolution spectra such as those that will be obtained by
proposed large scale searches for nearby SNe Ia. We find that definitive
detections will require both very early spectra (less than 5 days after
explosion) and perhaps slightly higher amounts of hydrogen than are currently
predicted to be mixed into the outer layers of SNe Ia. Thus, the non-detection
of hydrogen so far does not in and of itself rule out any current progenitor
models. Nevertheless, very early spectra of SNe Ia will provide significant
clues to the amount of hydrogen present and hence to the nature of the SN Ia
progenitor system. Spectral coverage in both the optical and IR will be
required to definitively identify hydrogen in low resolution spectra.
