Every year in Ukraine, thousands of children are born prematurely or with complications and require enhanced medical care. After discharge home, parents face an important task: together with medical staff, to ensure the child's full physical and neurological development. This is where follow-up observation comes to the rescue, the importance of which was explained in a comment to UNN by the Association of Parents of Prematurely Born Children "Early Birds".
Follow-up observation is an important support system that helps to timely identify risks for a child's development and promptly refer the child to appropriate specialists.
"For prematurely born children, timely referral is especially important, because due to the immaturity of organs and systems, they have a higher risk of difficulties with physical, neurological, cognitive, speech, and emotional development - the earlier the family receives support and assistance from a multidisciplinary team, the higher the child's chances for harmonious and successful development," the Association emphasizes.
Regular developmental assessment allows for the timely detection of even minor deviations, conducting additional examinations, involving necessary specialists if needed, and starting early intervention.
It is also important to note that follow-up observation is needed not only for children born prematurely. It is also required for full-term newborns who have suffered severe conditions after birth, including seizures, sepsis, hemorrhages, surgical interventions, or other serious complications.
"Timely follow-up observation helps not only to improve the child's health and quality of life in the long term, but also supports the family, which receives clear recommendations and confidence that the child's development is under professional control. That is why such a system is an integral component of modern neonatal care and further support for children at risk," explained the Association "Early Birds".
Which children are subject to follow-up observation
In addition to premature birth, a whole range of conditions can become grounds for follow-up observation. In 2025, the Ministry of Health approved an order that clearly outlines the list of signs that provide grounds for receiving such support.
The risk group includes children who have at least one of the following signs:
- prematurely born children;
- children with low birth weight;
- children who have suffered complex conditions in the neonatal period (seizures, encephalopathy, sepsis, intracranial hemorrhages, etc.);
- children with genetic diseases;
- children with intrauterine or postnatal growth retardation;
- children with congenital malformations, neurological pathology, and other diseases requiring long-term medical follow-up.
Follow-up observation is typically provided by multidisciplinary hospitals or level III perinatal centers, such as the Kyiv Perinatal Center.
Even before discharge from the maternity ward, parents already know whether the child needs follow-up observation, explains pediatrician Nadiia Davydova, who specializes in such observation at the Perinatal Center.
"Early detection means early rehabilitation. Early rehabilitation means bringing the child to a functional norm in the future," Davydova emphasized.
For children born at the Perinatal Center, a multidisciplinary team begins working with them during their inpatient stay. This makes it possible to provide the child with the necessary rehabilitation from the first days of life, and gives parents an understanding of what care the child needs.
Follow-up observation at the Perinatal Center is possible up to three years of age. Specialists, including a physical therapist, a pediatric neurologist, a physician of physical and rehabilitation medicine, a child psychologist, a pediatrician, a neonatologist, a speech therapist, and an occupational therapist, are involved in the process of assessing the child's condition and creating a correction or treatment plan.
In the Perinatal Center of the capital, the follow-up observation service is provided at both branches of the facility. Babies born at the center who require additional observation immediately receive a consultation from specialists. If a child was born in another maternity hospital but falls under the need for such observation, parents can get a referral from a pediatrician.