I. What is children's health care?

The Children's Health Care Department mainly focuses on the prevention of diseases for children. The department's doctors primarily conduct screening, guidance, evaluation and intervention of common pediatric disorders to help children's physical and psychological growth and potential development.

In addition to children's general health care outpatient services, the Children's Health Care Department of Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children (CQHCWC) also offers specialty outpatient services, including high-risk baby outpatient services (mainly for premature infants, brain damage, genetic metabolic diseases, congenital disabilities, etc.); growth and development outpatient services (dwarfism, precocious puberty, small for gestational age, etc.); nutrition outpatient services (obesity, malnutrition, feeding difficulties, food allergies, etc.); psychological  and behavioral outpatient services (autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – ADHD, language delays, general developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, etc.); family nursing outpatient services (violent outbursts, hand-eating and other developmental behavior problems, etc.), and sleep outpatient services (difficulty falling asleep, frequent nighttime feeding, night terrors, night waking and other sleeping disorders).

The department also has an early comprehensive development education center (early education and special education training), a sports rehabilitation instruction room (cerebral palsy, motor development delay, rehabilitation, massage, etc.), and a vaccination evaluation outpatient department for children with special health conditions (vaccination for high-risk children).

II. What services does the Children's Health Care Department offer?

1. Physical growth monitoring and evaluation: The department measures the weight, body length (height) and head circumference of babies, draws growth curve graphs, and attains knowledge of growth levels, growth trends and symmetry. It also diagnoses and treats growth deviations, including microcephaly, underweight, dwarfism, overweight and obesity. When necessary, the department conducts bone age detection to predict future height.

2. Health examination: Through physical examination, the department can determine whether babies have problems such as a heart murmur, asymmetry of hip lines, precocious puberty, etc. If issues are found, a further physical examination is necessary.

3. Psychological and behavioral evaluation: According to children's situation, the department performs "neurobehavioral measurements", intellectual development tests, temperament and speech ability tests, social function evaluations, and ADHD/autism assessments so that doctors can treat psychological behavior problems as early as possible.

4. Hearing screening: A two-stage screening is implemented: preliminary screening before leaving hospitals, and free re-screening is provided within 42 days for those who fail. Newborns with high-risk factors should be followed up regularly even if they pass the screening.

5. Vision screening: Children are typically screened every six months in infancy to determine whether they have hyperopia, myopia, and astigmatism. The monitoring interval can be shortened for high-risk children, and the frequency of screening can be increased.

6. Health check-up: The department conducts routine health check-ups for children going to kindergartens and schools. Checks such as bone age assessment, blood pressure measurement, blood typing, Hepatitis B virus screening, middle ear examination, abdominal ultrasound, cardiac ultrasound, electrocardiogram, lung function assessment and tuberculosis antibody examination will be conducted if necessary.

7. Feeding guidance: The department answers questions related to issues that new parents are likely to encounter during the feeding process, such as insufficient breast milk, galactorrhea, breast milk jaundice, whether calcium supplementation is required, how to scientifically supplement vitamin AD, how to add complementary food, how to make complementary food, how to develop good eating habits, and guidance on feeding children with diarrhea and allergies. Composition analysis of breast milk, complete blood count, vitamin D, serum ferritin, and allergen checks will be conducted when necessary.

8. Sleep guidance and intervention: For children suffering from sleeping issues, such as difficulty falling asleep, frequent nighttime feeding, night terrors and night waking, the department adopts sleep tracking watches, brain function tests, sleep assessment questionnaires and other methods to provide evaluation, guidance and intervention.

9. Massage and rehabilitation therapy: Special rehabilitation training, TCM physical therapy and other treatment methods such as massage, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and cerebral circulation are mainly provided for children with loss of appetite, constipation and food accumulation, reflux and poor sleep, torticollis, cerebral palsy, motor development delay, hypermyotonia, etc.

10. Early development guidance: This includes ① Comprehensive advice on children's early development between 0-3 years old. The main courses include parent-child enlightenment courses (for babies from 1 to 6 months), parent-child activity courses (for babies from 6 months to 3 years old), and parent-child music courses (for children from 2.5 to 3 years old), parent-child sports courses (for children from 2.5 to 3 years old), and parent-child art and craft courses (for children from 2 to 3 years old). These classes are suitable for the early development education and potential development of normal babies. ② Special education development training. Professional therapists will conduct functional training according to the specific situation of children. The main courses include fine motor training courses (for babies from 2 to 3 years old), one-on-one training courses (for children from 0 to 14 years old), language training courses, early intervention for children with autism, parent-child classes for children with autism, and more.

11. Health education: The department provides parenting courses twice a month, covering children's feeding, growth and development, psychological and behavioral development, sleep habits, behavioral habits training, health care of the five sense organs, vaccination, care of common diseases, etc. Parents can learn online, and department doctors will answer questions during the courses. Related children's health care knowledge will also be published from time to time on the official WeChat account of CQHCWC, welcoming parents' valuable suggestion.

III. How often should kids receive children's health care, and when to stop?

One time per month for babies from 1 to 6 months old; once every two months for babies from 6 months to 1 year old; once every three months for babies from 1 to 3 years old; once every six months for children older than 3; and one time per year for those from 6 to 18 years old.

Kids under the age of 18 can enjoy children's health care. High-risk children with dwarfism, obesity, malnutrition, and precocious puberty, should follow the doctor's advice to increase visiting frequency.

IV. When to get children's health care? Are weekends available?

The working hours of CQHCWC's Children's Health Care Department are Monday to Saturday (8:00 am-noon, 2:00-5:30 pm). Parents can make appointment through the official WeChat account of CQHCWC or self-service machines at the hospital.

Tel: 023-60354345