Patronage of the newborn is mandatory medical supervision of the child by a doctor and a nurse, which is provided to all children without exception for free. It is held at the actual residence of the mother with the baby, regardless of where it is registered. To do this, you need to specify reliable information about the place of residence when you leave the hospital.
The first patronage of the newborn is carried out by a pediatrician within 2 days after the baby is discharged from the maternity hospital. Then, several times (usually on days 14 and 21) the nurse comes home to exercise constant control over the child's well-being and development. If there were complications at birth and there are problems with his health, the nurse comes more often.
How is the patronage of the newborn at home?
Let's consider an example of patronage. At the primary patronage of the newborn, the pediatrician performs a general examination of the infant's condition, palpates and checks the tummy, fontanel, pays attention to the healing of the navel. He visually assesses the condition of his skin and mucous membranes, observes the reflexes and activity of suckling the baby's mother's breast or nipples (with artificial feeding). Be sure to tell the pediatrician whether there are cases of hereditary diseases in your family that could have been transmitted to the child at the genetic level.
Also an important task for the first patronage of a newborn child is the training of a young mother for the proper care of a child:
- feeding;
- the child's daily toilet;
- bathing;
- charging.
If necessary, the nurse shows how to clean the baby's eyes, ears and nose. Describes how to properly wash and bathe a child. She teaches her mother how to cut marigolds on small pens and legs.
A visiting nurse also pays attention to the conditions in which the child is:
- presence of a cot;
- clean clothes;
- daily wet cleaning in the children's room;
- airing the room;
- air temperature in the room;
- living conditions;
- The presence of pets and other potential allergens.
Patronage of a nurse to a newborn is not limited to the examination of only the child, but also provides for an attentive attitude to the nursing mother. If problems arise with breastfeeding, she can ask questions of interest to her. A health nurse will teach you how to express the milk properly, to relieve the heaviness and roughness of the breast. If necessary, examine the mammary glands and give advice on how to properly apply the baby. In addition, a young mother, if she doubts the correctness of her diet, should ask the nurse about the list of products allowed during the period of lactation. On subsequent visits, she checks how her advice and recommendations are carried out, answers the questions that have appeared.
Postpartum Patronage
In some cases, the constant supervision of specialists is not only the child, but also the mother. Postpartum patronage is conducted by a district doctor or midwife at home in such cases as:
- early discharge of the woman in childbirth;
- labor with surgical intervention;
- complication of the postpartum period;
- The absence of a woman in childbirth for gynecological examination at the time set by the doctor.
The doctor conducts a general examination of the woman, specifies information about how they went through childbirth, whether they had complications (for the mother and the newborn) and answers questions about the postpartum condition of a woman
When the child reaches the age of the 1st month, the baby must register with the children's polyclinic. Obligatory inspection of the infant by the district pediatrician should take place before reaching the age of one year at least 1 time per month. For this purpose, special "days of children up to a year" are allocated in polyclinics