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Pediatric Care
Dr. Christina Holmes discusses the advantages of regular pediatric care for children.
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Learn more about Christina Holmes, MD
Christina Holmes, MD
Christina Holmes, MD joins Reid Health after most recently serving on the teaching faculty at Payton Manning Children's Hospital's Pediatric Residency Program. Holmes obtained her Medical Degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and conducted her residency at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital. She is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.Learn more about Christina Holmes, MD
Transcription:
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte and joining us today is Christina Holmes, a Pediatrician at Reid Health to tell us about some advantages of regular pediatric visits. Now, Dr. Holmes, why should parents take their kids to see a pediatrician?
Christina Holmes, MD (Guest): I usually recommend that parents bring their kids to come see the pediatricians because pediatricians are the experts in kids. So, it's important for their kids to get regular checkups. And that goes from the time that the babies are born, and sometimes even before if we have some concerns before the babies are born, sometimes we'll see moms while they're pregnant. And then we usually see them all the way through until they are 18, watching closely to their growth and their development and being sure that we're helping raise healthy adults.
Host: Now, what should we consider when we're choosing a pediatrician?
Dr. Holmes: Yeah. So, things that are important for being able to choose your pediatrician, you want to be sure that it's somebody that you feel comfortable with. So, that could be is the parent or parents comfortable being sure that they can ask them questions. You also want to be sure that they are in a location that's easy for you to get to them and that you feel like they are able to answer your questions. And that your child is also pretty comfortable there as well.
Host: Now, how often should our children go to a pediatrician?
Dr. Holmes: Yeah, so there's a standard set of well-child visits that kids are recommended to come through through the AAP. And that's usually a birth visit. So, that's usually at day two to five of life. And then we'll see kids for their next checkup at one month, at two months, at four months, six months, nine months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, two years, two and a half years, and then three years. And then every year for a checkup until they're adults then probably even my adult colleagues would agree they'd want to see them each year as adults.
Host: And with vaccines on the mind of many of these days, tell us about the importance of pediatric immunizations in general.
Dr. Holmes: Yeah, it's a great topic and it's definitely been at the top of lots of people's thoughts and as pediatricians, we absolutely agree with vaccines and support vaccines. And, and we want those to get taken care of when babies are young, because our babies are at the highest risk of severe illness. And so we get them taken care of, the typical childhood vaccines in that first year of life, into the second year of life. And then they have boosters from there on out being sure that we protect them when they're at their most vulnerable.
Host: Well wrapping up here, Doctor, is there anything else you'd like to add about going to the pediatrician, finding one, anything we touched on or didn't touch on?
Dr. Holmes: You know, important too that, that your well-child visits aren't just a time that we're checking their growth and concerns, but that there are, that's a great opportunity for you to raise concerns with your pediatrician. So, sometimes that means that you bring up a concern and all you need is some reassurance, but sometimes those concerns that parents, moms and dads would recognize, their grandparents would recognize and say, hey, let's talk a little more about this, can, you know, really be that first step off into a bigger workup to be sure that their, our children are healthy and growing to the best of their abilities.
Host: Great. Well, Doctor, thank you for joining us today and for all the work that you do. You can call (765) 825-0511 to schedule your appointment today, or for more information, please visit reidhealth.org to get connected with one of our providers. Again, that number is (765) 825-0511. And that concludes this episode of Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte. Stay well.
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte and joining us today is Christina Holmes, a Pediatrician at Reid Health to tell us about some advantages of regular pediatric visits. Now, Dr. Holmes, why should parents take their kids to see a pediatrician?
Christina Holmes, MD (Guest): I usually recommend that parents bring their kids to come see the pediatricians because pediatricians are the experts in kids. So, it's important for their kids to get regular checkups. And that goes from the time that the babies are born, and sometimes even before if we have some concerns before the babies are born, sometimes we'll see moms while they're pregnant. And then we usually see them all the way through until they are 18, watching closely to their growth and their development and being sure that we're helping raise healthy adults.
Host: Now, what should we consider when we're choosing a pediatrician?
Dr. Holmes: Yeah. So, things that are important for being able to choose your pediatrician, you want to be sure that it's somebody that you feel comfortable with. So, that could be is the parent or parents comfortable being sure that they can ask them questions. You also want to be sure that they are in a location that's easy for you to get to them and that you feel like they are able to answer your questions. And that your child is also pretty comfortable there as well.
Host: Now, how often should our children go to a pediatrician?
Dr. Holmes: Yeah, so there's a standard set of well-child visits that kids are recommended to come through through the AAP. And that's usually a birth visit. So, that's usually at day two to five of life. And then we'll see kids for their next checkup at one month, at two months, at four months, six months, nine months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, two years, two and a half years, and then three years. And then every year for a checkup until they're adults then probably even my adult colleagues would agree they'd want to see them each year as adults.
Host: And with vaccines on the mind of many of these days, tell us about the importance of pediatric immunizations in general.
Dr. Holmes: Yeah, it's a great topic and it's definitely been at the top of lots of people's thoughts and as pediatricians, we absolutely agree with vaccines and support vaccines. And, and we want those to get taken care of when babies are young, because our babies are at the highest risk of severe illness. And so we get them taken care of, the typical childhood vaccines in that first year of life, into the second year of life. And then they have boosters from there on out being sure that we protect them when they're at their most vulnerable.
Host: Well wrapping up here, Doctor, is there anything else you'd like to add about going to the pediatrician, finding one, anything we touched on or didn't touch on?
Dr. Holmes: You know, important too that, that your well-child visits aren't just a time that we're checking their growth and concerns, but that there are, that's a great opportunity for you to raise concerns with your pediatrician. So, sometimes that means that you bring up a concern and all you need is some reassurance, but sometimes those concerns that parents, moms and dads would recognize, their grandparents would recognize and say, hey, let's talk a little more about this, can, you know, really be that first step off into a bigger workup to be sure that their, our children are healthy and growing to the best of their abilities.
Host: Great. Well, Doctor, thank you for joining us today and for all the work that you do. You can call (765) 825-0511 to schedule your appointment today, or for more information, please visit reidhealth.org to get connected with one of our providers. Again, that number is (765) 825-0511. And that concludes this episode of Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte. Stay well.