Newborn Care
Newborn Care Begins From The Moment Your Baby Arrives
Our pediatricians understand the challenges of taking care of a newborn. They also provide the same gentle care they would use for treating their family. If you’re pregnant and would like to register your newborn as a future parient of our office, call our office and ask to speak to our Patient Navigator so she can get your baby registered.
When you go to the hospital for your baby's birth, just tell the delivery team the name of your chosen Pediatrician and, if you are delivering at Corewell Health, our Forest Hills pediatrician on call will visit you and your newborn in the hospital. If you are delivering at another facility in greater Grand Rapids, the pediatricians on staff at their facility will see your baby and forward the medical records to us when you are discharged. In either case, call our office from the hospital (when you may have a quiet moment!) to schedule your newborn's follow up appointment in our office.
Newborn Care FAQs
When does my newborn have their first checkup?
Your new baby has their first checkup within a day or two of leaving the hospital. They will have another checkup two weeks later. Often your baby will also have weight checks and/or see the lactation nurse in the interim between these two appointments to assure your baby is feeding and gaining weight appropriately.
Your newborn’s checkup is a comprehensive exam to be sure they’re growing and developing normally. During the checkup, the pediatrician:
- Checks your baby’s weight, length, and head circumference
- Evaluates your baby’s feeding
- Evaluates your baby's percent of weight loss
- Evaluates the extent of your baby's newborn jaundice
These visits also give parents time to ask questions about their baby, whether it being bathing, feeding, sleep schedules, or any other concerns.
What screenings does newborn care include?
Michigan routinely screens for genetic and rare medical conditions, including 32 core and 24 secondary conditions. The goal is to identify and treat diseases early enough to prevent serious complications such as growth problems, developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, blindness, deafness, and seizures.
Within the first 24 hours after delivery, your newborn has a hearing screening, a congential heart disease screen and blood is drawn from their heel to run the routine screening tests (and sent to the health department in Lansing). If there are any concerning results from this blood test, the hospital, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, our office and you will ALL be notified - and all of us may attempt to notify you to assure any concern is addressed immediately. This sometimes causes a lot of consternation but it is all in an effort to catch and diagnose these congenital diseases as quickly as possible so as not to have any long term impact on your baby's health. Be assured, no news is good news. We will be sure that the final result of your baby's newborn screen is obtained but this usually is not the case until their 2 month checkup which is the case 99% of the time!
What are well-child visits?
Well-child visits are ongoing checkups for children that follow a specific schedule. After the two-week newborn care visit, your newborn will see the pediatrician again at two months.
During each visit, the pediatrician will evaluate their growth, developmental milestones, and behaviors. Just like the two-week newborn care visit, every well-child checkup is an opportunity to talk with the pediatrician about baby care and your baby’s health and safety. Your pediatrician also gives immunizations at the two-month visit to protect your baby from:
- Polio
- Hepatitis B
- Rotavirus
- Diphtheria
- Haemophilus Influenzae
- Pneumococcus
The same immunizations are repeated several times over the first 18 months to be sure your infant is fully immunized against these contagious diseases.
