Importance of preschool Health Check-Up in the COVID-19 era

An important part of parenting is taking care of your sick child. However, regular appointments with their pediatrician are also the key to healthy development. It has become especially important now since we are in the midst of a global pandemic. School might open up soon and it is your responsibility to ensure that your child is healthy and ready to go. Through these pre-school, health checkups, the doctor will be monitoring how your child is progressing from newborn to a teenager. You have to make regular appointments from the time of birth and continue until they are adults with the best child specialist in Hyderabad at Rainbow Children’s Hospital.

During the stay-at-home and lockdown orders, pediatrics care was under the essential business category. However, there was a significant decrease in the visits since the pandemic began. This led to children missing their key checkups and vaccinations. And even when cities and states are in different stages of reopening, people are still being cautious. In this article, we will be discussing why it is important to have a pre-school health checkup in the COVID era.

Why are health checkups important?

1. Prevention - If your child gets his/her scheduled immunization at the right time, it can help in preventing illness. An important element of preventative care is nutrition along with vision and hearing checks. Through this preventative care, your child can grow to become a healthy adult.

2. Development and growth - During the visits, the doctor will check how much the child has grown and developed since the last visit. Each appointment will help you learn if your child is reaching the developmental milestones at the right time of not.

3. Communication - Health checkups will provide you with an opportunity to ask all the questions you have regarding your child’s development. An appointment can be used for making sure that your child is healthy and for communicating the concerns you have about his illness. Make sure that you prepare a list of all the topics and questions that you want to discuss so that you are able to make the most of your time. What you need to focus on is nutrition, development, behaviour, sleep, and exercise.

4. Team spirit - During your regular doctor visits, you will be bonding with your child’s pediatrician. This trustworthy relationship between the child, family, and the health care provider will lead to better communication. It will optimize the physical as well as mental development of your child.

What to expect during a health checkup?
• A thorough physical exam will be conducted by your doctor.
• Standard scheduled vaccinations and immunizations will be administered.
• Your child’s mental and physical development and growth will be tracked.
• The doctor will discuss important subjects like illness prevention, physical activity, social skills, diet, and handling sudden health changes or emergencies.
• Lastly, you can ask any questions that you have during the appointment. The doctor has experience in managing children’s health. But, you have the experience of dealing with your own child. So, if you think that something is concerning or unusual, you must bring it up

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How does the hospital protect patients and children from the virus?
If you are planning to visit the hospital, you must be worried about the spread of coronavirus. Here is what the Rainbow Children’s Hospital is doing to ensure your protection:

• Deep cleaning of the hospital, furniture, and equipment regularly.
• Limiting the number of people allowed in the waiting area. If the limit is reached, you might have to wait in the care until the space is available.
• Screening people entering the building by taking their temperature and asking them about the symptoms.
• Mandatory mask requirement for all the visitors and medical professionals. The only exception is children under the age of 2 years.

Even during the coronavirus pandemic, it is important that your child has their wellbeing, growth, and development tracked by their doctors. Health checkups are especially important for children and newborns with complicated health conditions. If the doctors are able to find health issues during these checkups, it will allow them to prevent these issues from getting worse. Without this, the symptoms can get more serious and affect your child’s long-term health.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the health checkups and how they can impact the health and development of your child, you should contact the best pediatrician in Hyderabad or request an appointment at Rainbow Children’s Hospital immediately.