Neurodevelopment Follow up Clinic

Who is the leaflet for? What is its aim?

This leaflet gives you information about what to expect when visiting the neurodevelopment clinic. It contains answers to many of the common questions you may have.

What is the neurodevelopment follow up clinic?

We know that some babies that are born early, or are unwell after birth, may need some extra help with their development. In the neurodevelopment clinic, we will be following your child’s development over the first two years of their life. By doing this we can find out if, your child is growing and developing to the best of their ability. We will also be able to address any concerns that you might have about your child’s development.

We will be looking at how your child is growing and developing and will see them in the clinic every three to six months until they reach the age of two years. This is so if we do identify problems we can arrange appropriate intervention and support, such as physiotherapy.

We will also monitor your child’s nutrition and growth and provide support on early infant feeding. Your visits to the clinic will complement your child’s medical care but they may still need to attend other specialist clinics.

What happens at the age of two?

When your child reaches two years of age (corrected age if your baby was born premature), we will do a detailed assessment of their development.

What happens in this assessment?

The assessment usually takes about 60 minutes to complete, involves a range of activities and games, and looks at your child’s thinking, language and movement. We hope that it will be enjoyable and informative for both you and your child. We will give you more information about this nearer to the time.

What happens after the age of two?

If we feel your child needs further support, we will refer them to the appropriate team. Again, we will provide you with plenty of information should this referral be needed.

Where is the clinic?

• Clinics (most Wednesday afternoons) are held in the child development centre at Addenbrooke’s hospital (behind the Rosie).
• Appointments start from 13:30 onwards. Please bring your baby’s personal child health record, or ‘Red Book’.

What should I do if I cannot attend my appointment?

Please contact the clinic to cancel your appointment and re-book as soon as you are aware of any difficulty attending. Please contact: Julie Plaza: Telephone 01223 586744

Which members of the team will I see?

There are several members of the team that you may see in clinic: having several members of the team together in clinic means that you can get advice from all the specialists involved in your child’s care at the one appointment rather than having to attend several clinics.

• Dr Angela D’Amore- consultant neonatologist
• Dr Ann Humphreys- community paediatrician (conducts two-year assessments).
• Specialist dietitian
• Cath Ward- Specialist physiotherapist
• Specialist Speech and Language therapist