Apgar score added for the neonatal period
This number makes it possible to evaluate five major vital functions in a newborn. This involves assessing heart rate, respiratory rate, tone, skin coloring and responsiveness to stimuli in the first, third, fifth and tenth minutes after birth. Apgar is an acronym for appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, respiration. In this part, the parents’ refusal of neonatal screening is also notified.
Updated advice for parents
The children’s health record is also a way of supporting parents. As with the previous edition, many pages aim to provide advice promoting the well-being of the child. In this new version, the new features particularly relate to the following points: Raising your child without violence, the introduction of new foods, promoting the child’s sleep, providing guidelines for detecting neuro-disorders as early as possible. development, advice on screens and their use depending on the child’s age.
More targeted and specific examinations
Now the 20 compulsory exams to be carried out are all detailed. In the child’s first year, updated messages concern sleeping position, prevention of unexpected infant death and shaken baby syndrome. Emphasis is also placed on the risks of postpartum depression and the importance of parent-child interactions.
From 3 months and until adolescence, the question of exposure to screens and the signs of misuse are detailed. From the age of 2, it is now a question of the importance of practicing physical activity in children depending on their age. The detection of endometriosis in girls and the assessment of the mental health of adolescents – in particular the identification of situations of harassment – now appear in this new health report.
Identifying neurodevelopmental disorders
In addition to raising parents’ awareness of neurodevelopmental disorders, developed in the “advice to parents” section, grids from the booklet identifying these disorders have been integrated into the health record, at each corresponding compulsory medical examination: from the age of 5 months and up to 6 years.
-Advice is also given to health professionals to better identify these disorders and a QRcode provides direct access to the contact details of the coordination and guidance platforms for the diagnosis and management of these disorders.
Focus on the new medical examination at 6 years old
This new compulsory examination aims to strengthen prevention at the crucial age of entry into primary school. It concerns in particular the screening of developmental disorders. It also makes it possible to carry out the booster against whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis.
Please note: the two double pages devoted to vaccination adapt to the new recommendations: from 1is January, vaccination against meningococcal infections A, C, W and Y and B becomes compulsory for infants.
