GEP Medicine in Society Handbook 2019/20

3.14. The Young Child

Aims

To gain an understanding of the health monitoring and health promotion provided for babies and young children by the primary health care team.

In preparation students should have:

• Read or reviewed the recommended resources including taking a look at the NHS Birth to Five book, this book was until recently given to all new parents in the UK.  It is still available as a PDF from the Northern Ireland Public Health Agency.  In England and Wales it has been superseded by the NHS Choices website pages, particularly the Babies and Toddlers and Your Newborn tabs. Both resources provide information for parents on all aspects of caring for a new baby and both include the voices of new parents.
• The Mumsnet website is worth taking a look at it, in particular as it hosts many discussions threads and will enable you to see some of the concerns both new parents, and more experienced ones have about caring for their children.
• You may see the administration of vaccines in a baby clinic or a routine appointment.  The current UK vaccination schedule can be found here.

Objectives

By the end of the day, students should be able to:

• Describe some of the health promotion services provided by the practice for mothers and their babies
• Describe some of their experiences communicating and engaging with the children they have met
• Examine the most significant changes parents have to deal with after the birth of a child
• Discuss the impact of the child on the relationship and life of its parents

Activities 

• Tutorial: health promotion for mothers and babies  - vaccination, feeding advice, parenting advice
• Visit a mother/family and baby; or talk to mother and baby at the practice
• Meet with practice nurse/health visitor to discuss their role in caring for babies and young children
• Debriefing Tutorial
• Final meeting with GP and/or community tutor to assess learning log