Private paediatrician to asses development and milestones

[dondaW80]

Is there such a thing as seeing someone privately continuously to check baby is meeting milestones, to check out for any issues, to help with development etc? As I feel health visitors are very infrequent and I feel early intervention for any issues is crucial. I'm evidently quite an anxious Mom so apologies if this is a ridiculous thing

Yes there is! I contemplated this when I was first a mum but eventually decided not to due to cost. Are you in / near London by any chance?

A few options! Should say I’m not an hcp myself, so no expertise whatsoever

There are some private health visitors eg www.juliaheadland.co.uk/ - not used her or anyone else, but just for info

There are some very good paediatric specialist drs at the Portland in London. I’ve seen some for specific things.

I haven’t actually seen this dr but she was recommended by my dd’s ENT specialist - paediatrician you can see in london or Essex:

finder.hcahealthcare.co.uk/hca/specialist/dr_monika_bajaj

We saw a private developmental paed in Oxford.

Thanks for the quick replies. I'm based in the West Midlands if anyone knows of someone reputable from there at all

Would it be absurd to travel from West Midlands to London for this? I like the look of the Portland hospital? I know fees will be extortionate but I'm happy to pay

I don't know about seeing a private paed, but I've done a sense check on how my DC are developing by filling in the ages and stages questionnaires. We do the 10 month one and 2 year ones here with the HV at the 10 month and 2 year checks. However, if you look online they are actually available for every 2 months (ie 12, 14, 16 months old etc, there's what looks like most of them here westendpeds.org/developmental-questionaires/). If you search for ASQ-SE you can find the socio-emotional questionnaires which are available for 6, 12, 18 months etc. You can find the scoring sheets online.

When I've been not sure if something is a developmental concern or not, I've filled in the questionnaires. I've then used that as the basis for contacting the HV / GP - you could obviously go to a private paed instead.

@dondaW80 to be honest the key thing is who you see, not where you see them. I have had very good experiences with the Portland but the most important thing is who you go to

I agree with @CrabbyCat, I'd start by having a look at the ASQ for baby's age – if the ASQ shows that baby is clearly doing well, you can save your money.

If you look at the ASQs, do make sure you check the scoring sheet – I've never seen one where they were expecting 6/6 in a section, and it can be as low as 3/6 or 4/6 is 'development appears to be on track'. Also note that 2 months is a huge amount of development time for a young baby, so if baby is just barely into the age window for a questionnaire, don't stress if he or she isn't quite there yet. (I'd actually look back at the previous questionnaire as well in that case.)

I have seen a private paediatrician when DD2 had something of concern and the waiting time on NHS was months. (It was nothing bad )

I would say that if your child is healthy, there is no need. If you have any concerns and the nurse/GP don't pay attention to you, then go private

Sorry, I know this is a bit of an old thread, but I just wanted to ask @INeedtobealone if they wouldn't mind sharing which clinic they went to in Oxford? I'm having a hard time finding any information!

We saw Dr Gada at The Manor

www.drsrigada.co.uk/

Thank you!

Yes we have done this, it's very reassuring. I have someone in London I can recommend if the travel is ok for you.