Follow-up care
after going home with your newborn
Your Paediatrician’s role
Your paediatrician is a specialist in newborn health, growth and development. Your newborn’s referral to their care is for 3 months. If you need further specialist care after this, your GP can write a 12-month referral.
Once home, your paediatrician is supported and assisted by your GP, midwives and CAFHs nurses and will see your baby for any concerns that emerge.
Contact Prosper Paediatrics to advise them of any concerns. We will aim to book an appointment with your paediatrician. Their colleagues are always happy to provide backup and may be able to see your baby as a locum. We will also let your paediatrician know in the meantime.
The 6-8 Week Check
Your paediatrician will offer an appointment for an important health, growth and developmental check of your baby at 6 to 8 weeks of age. This check-up should not be missed.
Some paediatricians book these check-ups during their discharge check in hospital, but if not, please call to organise the 6 to 8-week check with your paediatrician. Your GP may also be happy to conduct this check-up.
Your paediatrician and the Prosper Paediatrics staff love seeing babies for six-week checks.
Follow-up care is offered on an ongoing basis for as long as or when your baby, child or adolescent may need specialist care.
For feeding, settling and general newborn care concerns-Mama First
Lactation consultants and midwives, Mama First, led by the very experienced Christine Belletti, can see you at home or at Prosper Paediatrics. Christine and her team work closely with your paediatrician. Book with Mama First.
Mama First’s Mum’s and Bub’s groups.
These are enormously popular and provide opportunities for new mothers to build confidence, have fun and share their new mothering journey with other new mums. Book with Mama First
Dietitian Rachel George
Rachel offers expert assessment, support and guidance and works with your paediatrician for
managing allergies and intolerances, including formula selection, maternal and baby’s dietary exclusions;
planning for and beginning solids around 3 to 6 months;
helping older baby and toddler fussy eating concerns;
Constipation concerns- Rachel can assist following your paediatrician’s assessment and management plan.
To book an appointment with Rachel, contact Prosper Paediatrics
Other check-ups and care to schedule:
18 to 24 months check of health and developmental check usually with your local CaFHS (but your Paediatrician can do this if needed. CaFHs will not do this check past 24 months.)
Other health and developmental checks are advised in the Blue Book, including between 6 and 9 months, which can be done with CaFHS or the GP
If CAFHs, the midwives or your GP have any concerns, they can refer for or recommend a review with your paediatrician.
Immunisations
Your paediatrician can provide information about immunisation.
Meningococcal Disease Vaccination: Your paediatrician will probably discuss this option during your stay in hospital, write a prescription for the vaccine and advise where to have the vaccine given to your baby. They recommend commencing Meningococcal vaccination from 6 weeks of age.
Scheduled Immunisation is available for your baby at:
Your GP’s clinic
Council immunisation clinics (usually free)
CaFHS centres (some)
Other concerns that may arise from time to time
Tongue-tie or oral tie?
The associated paediatricians will generally be happy to reduce tightness in the frenulum in the newborn period if they are confident it is an issue for feeding. If your paediatrician becomes concerned about tongue tie and feeding for an older baby they will refer to Dr Chris Kirby for a tongue tie release. The associated paediatricians are happy toassess any concerns and take a careful, evidenced-based and generally conservative approach. Lactation Consultant Christine Belletti can help with concerns related to feeding and will advise your paediatrician of her findings. Further information about tongue and oral tie concerns, reflective of the associated paediatricians’ approach, is available here and here.
Acute or urgent concerns:
Parents should act on concerns or instincts that their baby is very unwell or deteriorating quickly
The Blue Book p, 61 provides a list of signs that can indicate the need for medical care and urgency.
Some signs of a possible need for urgent care are summarised here.
If you have serious concerns, contact the rooms to arrange an appointment with your paediatrician. If your paediatrician cannot see you quickly, alternative options, depending on the level of urgency, are:
another Prosper Paediatrics paediatrician can see you as a locum.
yourGP (or GP locum or GP walk-in clinic) can be very helpful and can relay their findings to me or provide some reassurance if appropriate.
Paediatric Emergency Department(PED).Taking your baby to the nearest PED is always the best option if you are very concerned and your baby seems to be very unwell or becoming very unwell quickly.
Other services and resources:
New Baby Resource Pack -See https://www.cafhs.sa.gov.au/resources/new-baby-resource-pack
Hospital midwives’ post-natal follow-up service checks health and weight and helps with feeding or other concerns.
Home-visiting midwives are available for visits every 1-2 weeks for the first 7 weeks to weigh baby, and help you with feeding and settling issues with referral from your obstetrician.
Lactation consultants and midwives, Mama First, led by the very experienced Christine Belletti, can see you at home or at Prosper Paediatrics. Mama First also organises enormously popular Mum’s and Bub’s groups to help mothers build confidence, have fun and share their new mothering journey.
Child and Youth Health (CaFHS) provides two free home visits, usually around the third & seventh week to check your baby’s feeding, weight and general progress. You can also visit a CaFHS centre for additional check-ups, weighing and advice.
Further resources and links such as for Tresillian, a video about your baby’s cues and behaviours, Emma Hubbarb’s You Tube Channel, swaddling and hip care, breastfeeding, normal baby poo, Parent Helpline SA, etc, are available on our website here.
The Blue Book provides a guide about health and development from infancy through early childhood and various available developmental check-ups
