Getting your child checked

By CATHERINE MASTERS

This is Well Child Week. A variety of health workers do Well Child checks, including Plunket, doctors and practice nurses, public health nurses, dieticians and nutritionists, hearing and vision testers, dental nurses, paediatricians and midwives.

Midwives provide home visits and full maternity care during pregnancy and childbirth and after the baby is born.

Nurses (for example, Plunket, practice and public health nurses) will provide home visits, group meetings, clinics, Well Child checks, advice and support.

Doctors (general practitioners, or GPs) provide Well Child checks, home visits, full maternity care, advice and support.

Community workers and home visitors offer home visits, group meetings, support and advice.

Parent educators (such as Parents as First Teachers and Parents Centres) provide home visits, group meetings, parenting support and advice.

Pharmacists provide medicines and advice.

Dental therapists assess children's teeth and will give advice.

Vision-hearing testers screen the sight and hearing screening of preschoolers and children of school age.

The Well Child book itself provides a wealth of information and suggestions on keeping children - and parents - well.

It is broken into sections: Your first six weeks together, six weeks to six months, six to 12 months, one to two years, two to three years, three to five years, plus a section on safety at home and in the car.