As a Private Health Visitor, I also provide postnatal care services which include checking your baby’s weight.  It is reassuring to know that some babies within the first two weeks of life, may lose a certain percentage of their birth weight.  It is recommended that your baby’s weight is measured and plotted on the growth chart at 2 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 14 weeks.  You will be able to see a trend in the plotting on your baby’s weight chart.  Your health visitor will explain the growth chart to you. 

As your Private Health Visitor, my role also includes performing an assessment of your baby’s skin, eyes and mouth and particularly assessing for oral thrush which is also a common condition in babies.  The common symptom of oral thrush is a white coating on the tongue like cottage cheese which does not rub off easily.  Other symptoms of oral thrush in babies are refusal to feed and they do not want to feed and nappy rash.  It is important to note that babies can pass oral thrush on through breastfeeding. This can cause thrush on the mother’s nipples.  If this happens, both the baby and the mother will require treatment.  The baby will be given oral drops and mother a topical antifungal cream prescribed by the GP.