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Prakash Chandran (Host): During the first three years of a child's life, it's recommended that they see a pediatrician about a dozen times, and then on an annual basis, after that. You're probably wondering why it's so important for a child to see one so often, but pediatricians play an important role in a child's development and wellbeing.

And today we'll learn all about it. We're joined by Dr. Yemisi Emereuwaonu. And she is currently a Pediatrician at Regional One Health. She's known by her patients as Dr. Yemi and she aims to build genuine relationships with her patients to help them live healthier lives. Dr Emereuwaonu, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate your time. Can you tell us a little bit more about the schedule for well-child visits for babies and adolescents and what parents can expect from their pediatrician at those visits?

Yemisi Emereuwaonu, MD, FAAP (Guest): Good afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Chandran. Thank you for having me. It's really a pleasure. It's a good thing you mentioned that because when I listened to your intro and that's one of the things I see on the billboards for Regional One, you know, taking care of tomorrows and as you know, tomorrows, our children actually stand for every tomorrow.

They have a lot of tomorrows, you know, for them. And so, hence the reason why well-child checkups, it's very important, is very vital for their growth and for their development. As far as expectations, like you rightly said, a lot of well-child visits periodically before they are two years old and for each visit as a pediatrician, I try and we try to assess how they are growing, how they are feeding?

And if there's any social issues that may be working against, you know, work in favor or not in favor for the parent, if it's a first time parent, if it's, if the other determinants that may be to their health, I also assess their milestones, their development. Again, like I mentioned, it's periodic. So certain things we will do for a one month old, we may not do for one year old.

So there are various lab works, periodically that we do as well. We give the parents forms to assess their development, their speech, their motor milestones.

Host: That's wonderful. So there are a number of things that you check for and you assess at these visits. It just really sounds like the reason for the frequency is that the child is developing so quickly. Is that correct?

Dr. Emereuwaonu: Yes. That's the reason because the child is developing so quickly in the first two years of a child's life. And that's what I tell my mothers and my fathers when they come to the clinic. There's a lot of interaction with the environment with your family. And so there's a lot of changes and children, as you know, mentally they soak up a whole lot.

They see their environment, they grow very rapidly. And so it's very important for us as parents and as pediatricians to establish a healthy child, right from the beginning as, as young as three to five days old. And so the frequency of those visits is driven by that, is driven by the fact that it's a lot of growth.

And we know as pediatricians, we have a lot of in-depth knowledge of that growth and that at that development. And so we understand what they need physically, emotionally, psychologically. And so we try to communicate it to their parents at every stage of growth.

Host: That totally makes sense to me. I guess just speaking more broadly, if a parent is listening to this, can you talk through some of the main benefits, both the parent and the child get for actually scheduling and attending these appointments with a pediatrician like yourself. And also if there are any downsides to missing appointments.

Dr. Emereuwaonu: Thank you for that question. So, first of all, I would start off by saying to that parent, I'll say, let's see it as, you know, helping create a good foundation for health because we've seen over time and data suggests that for us to prevent adult diseases and for us to prevent them from getting diseases as adults, it starts from childhood because there are a lot of factors we see as children that could also project into adulthood. And then they have adult diseases, most commonly diabetes, hypertension, and so as pediatricians, what we assess for I'll give an example, to a parent. A five-year-old comes to the clinic to see me. One of the things I want to assess for, I want to check his vision at that well-child visit and want to check his hearing.

And let's remember that child is going to start if not start kindergarten soon. And then I want to assess his weight is high because I want to check his BMI. BMI is as simple tool we use to see if the child is obese. And so I do that and I talk with the parent and I, I also want to know the family history.

Those are things I'm trying to do to identify risk factors that may lead this child down the path of obesity. And then high blood pressure and then diabetes. That is just an example of so many things that we screen for as children. Again, back to my first point, to create a good foundation of health because we know certain risk factors, pre predispose children' to adult diseases.

And that's what we do here as pediatricians. And so what are the benefits for the it, for the patient, for the parents? The benefit is you have that constant visits with your child's doctor. There's that open line of communication. You have the ability to ask questions or to verify issues.

There are tools that we can give you for the child where you know, we're going to talk about his feeding. We're going to talk about vaccines. It's a very important, we're going to talk about how he's relating with his siblings or with the environment, because we're trying to assess his social development.

So those regular visits are very paramount so that we catch something very early and we start managing it as soon as possible to prevent any disease as the child grows up.

Host: So Dr. Emereuwaonu, you started to touch on this already, but can you speak to how seeing a child regularly helps you stay on top of chronic conditions? And I'd also love you to give some examples of chronic conditions that you see often and why that regular care is so important.

Dr. Emereuwaonu: So the most common chronic conditions I will see as a general pediatrician will be asthma and we know that's one of the most chronic respiratory illnesses in childhood, developmental disabilities. And by that, I mean, speech delay or autism or ADHD, which are also common.

Obesity is a very common situation issue right now in our society, even with children. Depression. So those are some common things I see in my office and I manage with the parent and with my team here in the clinic at Hollywood Primary Care. And so let me take asthma, for example, as a chronic condition. As a general pediatrician, oftentimes I work along with the parent and the child. We establish what the child is taking as far as inhalers or what medications. We also want to establish if mom or dad is compliant, do they understand how to use it? Does the child understand how to use it? My expectation for five year old asthmatic is different than a 16 year old asthmatic. So there's a lot of communication and education in that. And oftentimes I also work alongside a specialist doctor, the asthma doctor, because they will come to me more frequently. So I want to be sure to talk with the mom to understand, are you using it correctly? Are you using it as often as you use it?

How many times do you need to go to the emergency room because of the asthma? Because that tells me as a pediatrician, the more often you go, then I know something, we're missing something as far as the medication. Do we need to increase the dose or do we need to, you know, get something more to help the child.

I ask the mom, do we have any risk factors, anything triggers these wheezing episodes? So those are the things we go through. And oftentimes I see them periodically, like every three months, every six months we do certain screenings in the office. I may do a spirometry check. I mean, I may decide to do other tests to be sure the child and the parent are compliant with their inhaler use. And just to also make sure that they have the right knowledge should be able to deal with asthma.

Host: You know, as I speak with you, one of the main takeaways from this conversation is that, you know, children have been being born for a millennia. And while each child is of course unique, biologically they go through many of the same developmental changes. And so, you know, why not, like you said, set that good foundation for health, see a pediatrician often and really leverage a lot of the learnings to set them up for success in the future. Is that a fair statement?

Dr. Emereuwaonu: It's a very fair statement. You are actually very accurate with that statement. I would just add a tweak to that statement. Now, while we know that every child I would say every child is as far as the children, they are children anatomically, they may be different. In other words, their body makeup and the environment may be different, but the risk factors are the same. Like you rightly said. But you know, what's different, the response of the parents or how much the parents know. And so that's where here as pediatrician to say, okay, how much do you know, how much do you, how much can I let you? How much can I tell you? What do you need from me? The responsibility is on us as parents and as doctors, the pediatricians to equip the parents. Like you rightly said, people have been having children for years. And if we understand these risk factors, if I can communicate it to one of my patient's moms to say, Hey, if we can avoid this, if we can do better with the way we eat, if we can do better with the way he's exposed to all these allergies, considering his history of eczema, then I think we can actually do better and make him healthier despite this chronic illness.

So an understanding from on both sides and as well as education and communication and compliance really goes along with those of the responses that we love from our parents. Because when we see that as pediatricians, we can always identify when something goes wrong, we can always identify, Hey, this is what happened here.

You didn't take this medication at the right time. This diet is not working for you. Your blood pressure is getting higher. What is the reason it's doing that? You've got a speech issue. Have you been reading to the child? How often have you been reading to the child? So those are the things we assess because we want to modify those risks for that child, but it has to be on a periodic and on a periodic basis. And they gotta be compliant with that.

Host: Yeah. So, the visit is just as important for the parents as it is for the child because of that educational aspect. Right? Like I'm assuming that when you go in there, you're basically empowering them with this knowledge around how to care properly for the child and the things that they should look out for. Is that correct?

Dr. Emereuwaonu: Correct. You're very correct. I tell students that I please set some sense and I say, you know what? Pediatrics is so unique because sometimes you often deal with both parent and child, okay. You gotta be able to know how to communicate with the parent. If I have a 15 year old in the clinic, I'm probably going to communicate with him very well. If there's no health issues with that child. But if I have a one month old, all I have is the mother and what I see with my exam. So, as pediatricians, our role is so unique and so awesome and so exciting because we get that communication. We get to talk with the parents. And so you got to listen very well.

You have to keenly observe and you and I know, you know, being parents, our children are key priorities. So as much as we can keep them healthy, they want to. And so parents already come to the clinic ready to hear, ready to say, okay, what am I going to do? And so that role as pediatricians is a very honorable, but very vital in the life of that child and that family.

Host: Absolutely. And there's also the relationship piece of it. You know, like when you see a child regularly, I imagine that you develop a relationship with not only them, but their parents and it helps you get a clearer picture of their health and improve the care you deliver. Is that correct?

Dr. Emereuwaonu: You're so correct. You're very correct. You know, I've had talking about that relationship. I've had kids, you know, come to me and show me pictures. Hey, Dr. Yemi, this was my quinceanera. This was what I did now is birthday. They show pictures. They are open to do that. And then on my side, I try to remember, I try to remember some details about the social life. I try to remember some details that they told me in the past. And so that even garners more desire to want to be a part of the family. You know, being part of the family, what I mean is as part of their health family, me and my team, the nurse, the medical assistant and the patient we're part of that family, as far as their health is concerned.

And so when the parent walks in and say, oh, she remembered this, she remembered that. And then, you know, you can never go out of the pediatrician's office without getting a treat. I don't give candy. Okay, but we give stickers and we give toys. We, I got a whole treasure box of goodies and that also helps build that relationship, especially with the child on that one.

But it's not without saying when you see somebody or something over and over, you've definitely established something and how good you establish it depends on how you communicate and educate that parent or that patient.

Host: So Dr. Emereuwaonu just before we close here today, there's something that I always like to ask, you know, given all of your years of experience as a pediatrician, you've probably seen, you know, potentially even hundreds of children and parents; what is one thing that, you know, to be true that you wish more parents knew before they came to see you?

Dr. Emereuwaonu: Wow. That's a big question. What do I wish more parents knew? I think one of the things that I wish more parents knew was exactly what the role of the pediatrician is. And that just coming to the clinic to see a regular doctor is beyond vaccines. Because I feel when that's as far as the care would be for their child. I feel when they understand that the child doctor is that's what the pediatrician is a child doctor.

When they understand all the things we're here to do for the child, it makes them more compliant to the visits. It makes them open to the tools that we have to offer. And when they do understand that it goes beyond vaccines. Vaccines are super important of course, but that care that we give goes beyond vaccines. We are trying to establish a foundation for the child.

I wish most parents would know that because an understanding of that drives, it drives the parents interest. Even more so in the health of their child, you know, I can't tell you how many times that I, that knowledge drives how parents approach a child's growth. You know, how he's growing at two years old, he's doing this, he's doing that.

And then when he feels okay, he's going to doing these things they know straight away, I need to see my child's doctor, you know, and it's not just, oh, it's six months, it's time for shots. It really goes beyond that. And that's what I wish most parents understood that we're, here as pediatricians to listen, to observe and to communicate, you know, with that child and with them.

Host: I'm really glad you touched on that point because I feel that for many parents, it's just a box to check, right? Like they, like you said, they want to potentially take their child in to maybe get a vaccine when they're not realizing that it's a relationship that you're building over the course of potentially many years. That is going to really set that foundation of health for your child's success in life to come. And so I'm really glad that you covered that point and I've really enjoyed our conversation today. Thank you so much for your time.

Dr. Emereuwaonu: Well, thank you so much, Mr. Chandran. I appreciate the opportunity. And I hope I was able to answer some of your questions at least. Thank you.

Host: You were. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time again, Dr. Emereuwaonu.

That was Dr. Yemisi Emereuwaonu, a pediatrician with Regional One Health. Dr. Emereuwaonu sees patients at Hollywood Primary Care. For an appointment you can call 901-515-5500. Thanks for making One-On-One with Regional Health part of your journey to better health.

Join us next time as we cover another topic to keep you on a path for a healthier tomorrow. Stay well.