Chapter 40: Follow-up Care of the Graduate From Neonatal Intensive Care

The scope of pediatric primary care for children who require neonatal intensive care is varied depending on the neonate’s underlying medical problems and any resulting sequelae. Most infants who require specialized newborn care need only routine pediatric primary care, with particular attention paid to periodic developmental surveillance of infants with risk factors for developmental delays and susceptibility to certain illnesses. The most immature and sickest neonates, however, require a comprehensive and coordinated approach to care that integrates routine health care, medical and surgical subspecialty care, psychosocial and emotional support needs of the family, and periodic developmental screening—the latter to identify...