Is NICU follow up necessary when seeing a pediatrician a few times a year?

@kimberly1988 My 34 weeker was referred out for this and we did take him until 18 months when I finally just quit going. Pediatrician thought it was a good idea to be followed by a premie specialist but no issues were ever raised by them… it was 100% free though. I would definitely not have kept going if it was costing us money, especially $1000+ that’s insane!
 
@menorah Oh that’s good to know. Yes all of 2022 it was no cost because we obviously hit our deductible and out of pocket max with the NICU stay so we just went to all the appointments. Now 2023, I realised how much these appointments costed us.
 
@kimberly1988 God damn, yet another post that makes me happy I moved to Canada. Opened the post thinking "What's so hard about just taking them to the follow up appointments?" Cuz our former 24 weeker now 7 year old has had many appointments with the NICU follow up clinic, her last one actually being a few weeks ago... then I see the COST for your appointments and... Good lord. Nope. I'd have a discussion with the follow up clinic, tell them that we can't afford the cost of these appointments and ask for any info that I should pass on to my kids pediatrician as things to look out for.
 
@misseldiva Yeah we typically pay close to $9k a year in just medical coverage alone (no dental or vision that’s separate) 🥲. Family of 3.

Our appointment is supposed to be tomorrow. Forgot about it until I saw they left me a voicemail. Still paying off the visit from February. It’s ridiculous.
 
@misseldiva Yep. Australian, I take my little one to the follow up appointments mainly for science at this point since we see so many doctors and therapists outside the follow-up program, but I would absolutely not be paying for the privilege.
 
@kimberly1988 If she's on track, I'd consider not going at this point. Maybe talk it over with your pediatrician at the next appt. Is there a cheaper option to do early intervention assessments?
 
@kimberly1988 We are planning on hopefully being discharged by the end of this week and so far I’ve gotten 8 texts of apts from mid august-October at children’s hospital
 
@kimberly1988 I'm in your boat.
My baby was 31 weeks too
I went to the first expensive NICU follow-up but thankfully my baby is hitting milestones and seeing pediatrician, decided not to go to future ones

I track milestones with pathways.

Are you in Texas too?
 
@kimberly1988 Rochester NY here with a 25+5 and everything is covered by Medicare due to low birth weight. We have had a lot of other appointments covered because of county programs as well (PT, OT, Special Ed, Speech therapist, etc). I would A:Check with the social worker at the hospital to see if you qualify for any additional assistance. And B: check the hospital (assuming these follow appointments are there) and apply for their discount program. All major hospitals have a sliding scale for pay back based on income and you do not need to be low-income to qualify. I hope you have a happy healthy child!!! Good luck with everything.
 
@kimberly1988 I'm in Canada, but I haven't heard of that. Things might be set up differently here. They have a clinic that is beside the hospital and staffed by hospital pediatricians that follow children who have been discharged from the NICU. We did have to go in once to the NICU for a weight check three days after discharge but that was it.

I'm sorry you have to pay that much, that is nuts.

Edit: we have to go to the separate clinic once about every 3-6 weeks. Its basically like a check up/check in.
 
@kimberly1988 My son was born 32 weeks exactly. And we never had to go back to the nicu for follow ups. I didn't know that was a thing. We just scheduled with a normal pediatrician after being discharged. He's 2.5 now and we've only been to the well child visits. Was the nicu visits for any other treatments?
 
@truthseeker70 The cut off apparently is 32 weeks. Mine was born 31+6.

No, originally there was no concerns. I think about 3-6 months old there was concern with hypertonia. We went to PT and that was resolved. We then went back to nicu follow up and all was well no other concerns and on track. But they still had me schedule a follow up for 6-8 months later to reassess. So we aren’t really evaluating anything specific anymore.
 
@kimberly1988 In the same boat as you but my 29 weeker (almost 1 year actual) is not hitting all of her milestones, so I’m conflicted. Also her NICU follow ups are two hours away at the hospital. They are expensive. My baby also has a neurologist - so the appointment next month I am going to ask if these NICU follow-ups are really needed. They might be needed, I’ll follow what her doctor says.

Also, in my state anyway - all babies born premature qualify for early intervention! My girl gets PT twice a week, OT once a week and developmental therapy twice a week. All for free! They come to your house or daycare. It’s really worth looking into! We didn’t need a doctors referral, I just contacted the state through a form on their website.
 
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