Clinic nurse: Nurses at baby and immunisation clinics can be visited as often as weekly in the first few months after birth, to check baby’s weight and other developmental milestones.  Baby’s progress is noted in a supplied booklet provided by your antenatal clinic. The nurses at the maternity unit at the hospital or at a baby clinic can help answer any questions you have and give guidance as you raise your little one.

Lactation specialist: These are trained and certified breastfeeding specialists who offer guidance, advice and support to ensure a positive breastfeeding experience for you and your baby. They can assess and treat common and challenging breastfeeding issues, answer your questions and show you how to do it correctly, and encourage baby to latch properly. They help you make sure baby is feeding correctly and adequately. Download our handy feeding journal to keep track of baby’s feeding schedule.

Paediatricians: Paediatricians are medical doctors who specialise in the treatment of babies and children through to adolescence, providing preventive care advice, and diagnosing and managing their physical, mental and emotional well-being at each stage of development. ‘Your baby’s paediatrician should be your point of contact for guidance and assistance with concerns as well as appropriate referrals to specialists,’ says Dr. Natasha Padayachee-Govender, who leads a specialist paediatrics practice based at Life Fourways Hospital.

Neonatologists: These are medical professionals who specialise in caring for newborns, particularly if ill or born prematurely, when vital organs such as the heart, lungs, stomach and skin are not mature enough to function without help. Neonatologists can also provide antenatal consultations if you have risk factors, such as carrying multiple babies. Later, they will coordinate baby’s care with a paediatrician.

Paediatric intensivists: These highly specialised doctors treat seriously ill babies and children with life-threatening conditions, such as congenital heart disease, infectious diseases, or trauma in consultation with other specialists who may also be treating the baby or child.

Paediatric dieticians: They help babies, from the youngest preemies through to teens, to eat and drink healthily and appropriately for their life stage. They are particularly important if your child is not growing well, has difficulty feeding, or has a condition requiring a special diet, such as allergies or cancer. They can also help if you simply have a fussy eater.

Dieticians: If you struggle with medical conditions such as gestational diabetes, have weight concerns after giving birth, or have special dietary needs, a dietician can guide you on what you need for your body to heal after childbirth or Caesarean surgery, ensuring you meet your nutrient needs – and those of your baby, if breastfeeding. They can provide a personal eating plan, support, and reassurance.

Chiropractors: Delivering a baby presents physical challenges to you and your baby, and chiropractors can do gentle manipulations designed to help you both heal. They can be especially useful if you develop backache or sciatica, or if baby has trouble latching to breastfeed due to a misalignment of their neck. ‘Feather-light adjustments to baby’s spine can help reduce colic, gut discomfort (helping baby poop better) and breastfeeding issues,’ says Dr. Ashna Prithipal, a chiropractor at Life Mount Edgecombe Hospital.

Physiotherapists: Where chiropractors focus on the musculoskeletal system and use manual spinal and extremity manipulative therapy, physiotherapists approach physical problems by using different techniques, including exercise and manual therapy. After delivery, physiotherapy can help strengthen your abdominal muscles, to regain core muscle strength and prevent lower back injury. A physiotherapist can also teach you how to position and hold baby to keep them safe, and you comfortable. If baby has difficulty crawling, sitting, standing, or walking independently, a paediatric neurodevelopmentally trained physiotherapist can help them meet milestones and improve their quality of life.

Child psychologists: These specialists will help if your child is delayed in reaching developmental milestones, or has behavioural, emotional, social, or mental problems. They give assessments and tests, and provide guidance, counselling through talk therapy, and support.

Child psychiatrists: They specialise in the medical aspects of a child’s mental health and development, and can prescribe medication. They too can give and assess tests for a child’s behavioural, emotional, social or mental problems, combining therapeutic techniques and medication management.

Psychologists and psychiatrists: It’s important to see an adult psychologist and psychiatrist yourself if you have signs of depression in pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth – you may have postnatal depression, now also known as perinatal distress. See ‘Finding hope and healing: How to navigate postnatal depression’<link to maternity series article on pnd>.

If baby has specific problems, your paediatrician may refer you to other child specialists in different fields. To find a specialist, browse our list of doctors.

The information is shared on condition that readers will make their own determination, including seeking advice from a healthcare professional. E&OE. Life Healthcare Group Ltd does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage suffered by the reader as a result of the information provided.