Neurodevelopmental Clinics for High-risk Newborns

The newborn’s neurodevelopmental follow-up clinics provide services to high-risk babies from birth to childhood. Any infant is grouped as high-risk, if the birth was declared premature or incorporated with unexpected medical issues. Such babies are associated with feeding, growth and neurodevelopmental difficulties. Neurodevelopmental clinics for high-risk newborns functions more like NICU for outpatients.

Although the baby can be accompanied to home, it still requires special attention and care provided by specialists. The high risk clinics provide the essential transitional care for babies sent from NICU to normal paediatric department. Generally, such clinics are referred by neonatologists after leaving NICU. The referrals are done to get benefited from the coordinated care and services offered by neurodevelopmental clinics.

Neurodevelopmental disorders of babies indicate the impairments in the growth and development of the central nervous system (CNS) or brain. A narrowed usage of the term indicates the disorder of the brain function affecting learning ability, emotions, memory and self-control, and that which worsens as the child grows. Autism and autism spectrum disorders are the most common forms of disorders seen in children.

Disorders grouped under neurodevelopmental category, or that which initiate neurodevelopmental consequences during infancy and childhood are as follows:

Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Traumatic brain injury such as congenital injuries due to cerebral palsy

Autism and autism spectrum disorders including Asperger syndrome

Motor disorders such as disorder of the stereotypic movement and developmental coordination and Tourette syndrome

Communication, language and speech disorders

Down syndrome

Genetic disorders (fragile-X syndrome)

Mendelsohnn's syndrome

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Schizotypal personality disorder

Schizophrenia

Neurodevelopmental disorders are incorporated with wide range of difficulties influencing the mental, physical, emotional and economic status of individual, the family and society on the whole. The neurodevelopmental clinics at Nyle Hospital assist newborns by rendering:

Comprehensive, specialized multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental consultations and evaluations

Treatment for babies with neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly Autism spectrum disorders. Services relate to problem-focused, concise treatments for behavioural, social and developmental issues

Psychiatric medication, examination and treatment

Genetic testing

Speech and language evaluations along with treatment consultations

During the clinic visits, the healthcare team monitors or interacts with the little patients and trigger lots of questions to rate the level of improvement upon increase of age. Along with the regular examination and procedures, the physicians tend to assess the child’s developmental progress related to:

Neuromotor functions so as to measure muscle strengths and weakness

Nutrition of child for proper physical growth and development

Language development such as listening and speech ability

Social interaction skills including child’s ability to mingle and interact with outsiders other than family member or to recognize the names of their own and others