Paediatrics
“A person is a person no matter how small”
– Dr Seuss
We pride ourselves as a family medical practice and welcome babies and children of all ages.
Often we will become involved with couples during pregnancy and then have the privilege to look after your newborn very soon after birth. We can provide “heart checks” in the first seven days of life, this is necessary for your baby if you leave hospital within the first 48 hours after delivery.
After that we are able to perform the “Six week neonatal check”. This involves asking questions regarding any feeding issues and how your baby is developing. An examination is performed to look specifically at things like any visual problems and to check for hip dislocation as well as weighing and measuring your baby so that we can monitor growth over the subsequent months and years. It’s an opportunity for parents to ask any questions and receive advice on any concerns and we suggest a half-hour appointment is a minimum for this to occur.
At this visit we will also immunise your baby for the first time. We keep all the routine scheduled vaccines and also encourage the administration of the Meningococcal B vaccine (though this needs to be paid for because it is not part of the Government schedule). We highly recommend childhood immunisation and we can answer any questions you may have and give verbal and written advice on any possible minor side-effects, though these are not common.
In the first year of life we will see your children quite frequently because of the immunisations and also because minor viral illnesses are quite common. When a baby becomes ill it is often necessary for them to be seen quite quickly to establish if there are any serious concerns. We will always attempt to see a sick child as quickly as possible and fit them into our schedule even if an appointment is not available.
In the subsequent years we are used to dealing with the “terrible two’s” and can give advice on feeding difficulties and behavioural problems.
We are competent and capable with looking after a range of children health problems over their life. Common things we manage are: fever, ear-ache, urinary tract infection, eczema and asthma.
In the adolescent years there can be various mental health issues that we can also help manage. Due to our many years of general practice experience we are confident in the management of many paediatric problems but we also work closely with a number of local paediatricians and are able to refer you to a skillful expert should the need arise.
We look forward to welcoming children of all ages to North Sydney General Practice whenever the need arises.
