Well Child Visit

Well Child Visit

Well-child visits are essential in ensuring the child remains healthy through her early stages of development. They help track down child development and the health of a child and facilitate immunization. Therefore, during the first visits of the female infant named Asia and her mother to the clinic, I inquired about her birth history, surgical or medical history, and any previous screenings.

Going forward, I would consult the mother about whether the child suffers from any ailment and whether she has received any medication. I would also inquire about the child's diet. I would be keen on the child's breastfeeding and whether she is taking any other fluid foods apart from breast milk (Wolf et al. 2020). It is also essential to know about the child's sleeping and growth patterns, closely checking her whole body. I will also measure the child’s weight and height for record purposes.

Moreover, I will enquire about the mother's health, whereby she previously had a bacterial infection and was given some antibiotic prescriptions. I would further learn about the mother's welfare, thus total pregnancies she has had, live births if she is pregnant at the moment, her HIV status, and blood type.

During the 2 months and six months clinic visits to the hospital, the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) was used to evaluate Asia's developmental progress. I questioned the mother on the child's growth and what she could do or not do during specific times. Through developmental surveillance and screening, I could establish any retardation in the child's development based on the mother's responses and the weight and height measurements (Wodi et al., 2021). The development of Asia did not show any delays confirming her optimal growth.

At six months clinic visit, the child is expected to be immunized in the continuity of the first visit. She will be given the second dose of acellular pertussis (DtaP), Polio vaccine (IPV), Haemophilus influenzae type b(Hib), and Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13), and the third dose of Hepatitis B (Lindley, 2019). For proper wellness check-ups, the mother is advised to follow up in another three months for the nine-month clinic visit.

Finally, at the 9-month clinic visit, the child will receive her third polio and an influenza vaccine. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that these vaccines be given in 9-15 months. Further, the mother should frequently take the child to the clinic until she is five (advisably every three months).

References

Lindley, M. C., Kahn, K. E., Bardenheier, B. H., D’Angelo, D. V., Dawood, F. S., Fink, R. V., ... & Skoff, T. H. (2019). Vital signs: burden and prevention of influenza and pertussis among pregnant women and infants—United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(40), 885.

Wodi, A. P., Ault, K., Hunter, P., McNally, V., Szilagyi, P. G., & Bernstein, H. (2021). Advisory committee on immunization practices recommended immunization schedule for children and adolescents aged 18 years or younger—the United States, 2021. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(6), 189.

Wolf, E. R., O’Neil, J., Pecsok, J., Etz, R. S., Opel, D. J., Wasserman, R., & Krist, A. H. (2020). Caregiver and clinician perspectives on missed well-child visits. The Annals of Family Medicine, 18(1), 30-34.