[The post-hospital care of the newborn and infant with disturbances of the adaptation period]. / Opieka poszpitalna nad noworodkiem i niemowleciem po przebytych zaburzeniach okresu adaptacyjnego.

ABSTRACT

Medical care of the newborn or infant discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit is difficult and requires close co-operation between the primary care pediatrician and the team of specialists. The authors are trying to collect the rules of pediatric guidance of the high-risk patients to help in practical approach to such children and highlight the issues requiring special attention. The newborn should be discharged with precisely described plan of following treatment and controls. Despite careful discussion with parents on child's clinical status, many questions and daubts appear as sooll as the infant arrives home. All these problems have to be explained by the primary care pediatrician. Defining the subgroup of special care patients on the basis of perinatal and adaptive period risk factors can protect them from being "overseen" (the steadily progressing deterioration or problems occurring in the course of development). On the other hand, some non-typical symptoms are normal for these special patients and should be taken into consideration in the following evaluation of the development and recognition of changes in clinical condition. The attention is drawn to the meaning of corrected age and its use in growth monitoring and psychomotor development, and also the carefulness in recognizing mental psychomotor disability. Other problems, like early neurodevelopmental stimulation program, feeding difficulties, immunization questions and the care of children with chronic diseases are also discussed.