After your baby is discharged,
his or her medical care will be provided by the pediatrician or family physician
you have chosen. You will be advised when to schedule your baby's first
appointment. A summary of your baby's hospital record will be sent to your
baby's pediatrician or family physician.
Because your child's future
is very important to us, St. John's Mercy Medical Center offers a NICU Follow-up
Program. Through this program, children are evaluated during important periods
of development by pediatric specialists highly trained to assess developmental
skills. The program consists of six visits over the first seven years, and each
visit lasts two hours.
We assess the following
areas: fine and gross motor skills; cognitive (intellectual) development; speech
and language development; social and play skills. These skills are important,
because it is through these avenues that a child develops. Development occurs
in a natural order and every child follows the same basic sequence. Some children
develop faster and some more slowly, but all travel pretty much the same path.
In the sequence of development, the child uses each activity to develop "building
blocks" that become the basis for more complex and mature developments.
At each follow-up visit, we check to make sure your child's "building blocks"
are well in place.
If your baby's doctor recommends
that your baby be enrolled in the Follow-up Program, the nurse coordinator will
discuss this program with you in detail, answer any questions and schedule your
baby's first follow-up visit.
We offer the Follow-up Program
to look closely at all areas of development so we can give you needed information
and advice. We hope that you will view the Follow-up Program as a resource for
support, new ideas, sharing and reassurance. We welcome the opportunity to be
closely involved with your family in the future.
