Antenatal consultation
This is your chance to meet Dr Heyns before your baby is born! An antenatal consultation is also the ideal opportunity to pepper her with all your questions about the birth and how to care for a newborn.
New baby assessment
A paediatrician is present in theatre if baby is born via a caesarean section, or shortly after birth in the case of a vaginal birth. If you want Dr Heyns to be the attending paediatrician at your baby’s birth, you can arrange this with your gynaecologist or the labour ward staff. She will also check on baby every day while you are in hospital to make sure that baby is healthy and well, all observations are normal, and that baby is feeding well.
If a different paediatrician was assigned for baby’s birth and hospital stay, it is recommended that he or she complete baby’s hospital stay, after which you can ask Dr Heyns to take over for the six-week assessment. You are of course also welcome to bring baby sooner to meet Dr Heyns.
Please note that Dr Heyns can only attend caesarean sections or be present at the delivery of babies born at Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital. If your baby was born at another hospital, you are most welcome to have Dr Heyns take over the care of your baby once discharged.
Developmental checks
Developmental checks are routine consultations where the focus is on health, growth and development. Dr Heyns emphasises early detection and early intervention.
Regular developmental checks are scheduled for six weeks, four months, eight months, 12 months, 18 months and two years, with a yearly follow-up thereafter. Dr Heyns sees children until they turn 17 years old. As the child grows, the focus of the consultation adapts to include age appropriate milestones, any health issues and general advice on health.
Parents are encouraged to draw up a list of questions beforehand to ask Dr Heyns during the consultation.
Emergency consultations
You are welcome to bring your sick child to Dr Heyns as she always leaves some slots open in her day for emergency patients. Emergencies include a high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, rash, acute pain, coughing or a general unwell child. We open at 8am and it is recommended that you phone us as early as possible to secure a slot. Even if there are no slots available on the day, we will still try our best to help you. This might mean that one of Dr Heyns’ colleagues will attend to you, or we will refer you to the hospital’s emergency unit.
For any after hours emergencies that cannot wait until the next day, please proceed to Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital’s emergency unit. If your child is admitted to hospital or if the emergency doctor on duty needs a second opinion, they will contact the paediatrician on call.
General health checks
A general health check is an informative and investigative consultation that focuses on patient and parent education. Topics include diet, sleep, behaviour, habits, environmental factors and discipline. Parents will also be guided on how to deal with general illnesses, health maintenance and behaviour.
Chronic conditions
Once Dr Heyns has diagnosed a chronic illness or problem, regular follows-up are required to maintain optimum management and control. These follow-ups are normally scheduled for every four to six months, depending on the condition.
Dr Heyns does both the initial diagnosis for chronic conditions, as well as the management of chronic conditions that have been diagnosed by a different health practitioner. Conditions that fall into this category include asthma, constipation, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, ADHD, diabetes and allergic rhinitis (hay fever).
ADHD evaluations
You are welcome to bring your child for an evaluation if your suspect that he or she suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Please note that it is very important to specify to Nicky that the child is coming for an ADHD evaluation when you make the appointment, as a double time slot needs to be set aside.
Nicky will provide parents or caregivers with forms to complete prior to the appointment, as well as an evaluation form for the teacher to complete. In order for Dr Heyns to get a comprehensive overview of the child, it is very important to bring along all the child’s school report cards, some school books, as well as any OT (occupational therapy) evaluations or educational psychologist reports.
The consultation is done in three parts, namely:
- An evaluation of all the information and making of the diagnosis.
- Parent education of the condition and a discussion of the available treatment modalities and their side effects.
- Planning future management
