The schedule for medical examinations for children has changed since January 1, 2025.
This is unclear for many pediatricians and probably soon for many young parents. Since January 1, 2025, the schedule of compulsory medical examinations for children has been modified, according to a decree published last November. To summarize, the future schedule of medical examinations always includes compulsory appointments in the first months: after leaving the maternity ward, newborns and infants will have to undergo a medical examination within 8 days after birth, then during the 2nd week, then one per month up to 6 months.
To find out more, the complete list of compulsory medical examinations for children is available on the government Service Public website. A medical appointment was also added during the 7th year. Problem, another has been purely and simply deleted: this is the one which was until then planned between the 3rd week and the end of the 1st month after birth. A decision questioned by health professionals, such as Dr Emmanuel Delmas, pediatrician and author of the book “My child is STILL sick”: “It’s quite strange. We don’t understand why the medical examination was withdrawn”.
According to him, this consultation made “sense: the clinical examination is important, and it involves taking stock of diet, sleep, checking that everyone is well… There are often a lot of questions, which are very legitimate.
The first months after birth are indeed a pivotal period during which a lot of information must be transmitted to parents. And that takes time! With the elimination of this medical examination between the 3rd week and the end of the first month, certain questions and information will therefore be postponed to the next examination, which takes place during the first month. “It seems complicated to me to do everything, and in addition to talking about vaccines, during this meeting,” worries Dr. Delmas.
The pediatrician, very active on social networks under the nickname @superpediatre, also regrets a lack of communication on the subject, for parents but also for health professionals: “We had almost no information”. In the end, he believes that “we must return to what was done” until then, and therefore not eliminate this medical examination.
