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Paediatrics Singapore

Paediatrics Singapore

Your child’s pre-adult years are the most exciting and challenging time of their existence. Make the most out of this stage of their lives by working closely with paediatrics Singapore services. Paediatricians diagnose and treat a full range of childhood illnesses and conditions.

Paediatrics is a medical speciality concerned with children’s physical, mental and social health from birth to age 18. Thus, paediatricians offer services related to the prevention, early detection and management of developmental, behavioural and social problems affecting their patients. They also share coping techniques with parents while providing children with age-appropriate explanations and medical care.

Why Is Paediatrics Important?

Paediatrics in Singapore plays a valuable role in society:

  • Promotes healthy lifestyles among growing children to control the spread of infectious diseases, easing problems arising from chronic conditions and reducing infant and child deaths
  • Educates and offers solutions to parents on how to manage the long-term effects of the following factors on a child’s survival and quality of life:
    • developmental delays and disorders
    • functional disabilities
    • mental disorders
    • social stress
    • behavioural problems


Compared to seeing a family doctor, a paediatrician can monitor your child’s health better due to their:

  • Specialised training in identifying and fulfilling children’s physical, behavioural, and emotional needs
  • Broad experience in illness detection and treatment
  • Expert care for the newborns, especially in instances of premature birth, the emergence of defects or during the onset of illness

What Do Paediatricians Do?

A paediatrician Singapore has procedural expertise in performing the following:

  • Physical exams
  • Immunisations
  • Circumcisions
  • Diagnosis and treatment of infections, illnesses, injuries and other health issues (such as the removal of foreign bodies like splinters, treatment of dislocated joints and splinting of broken bones)


Paediatricians ensure that your children are meeting their developmental milestones. They must also inform you about your child’s nutrition, fitness, safety and other health needs.

These specialists may also refer you to or collaborate with medical practitioners from other fields when your child’s illness is beyond their expertise. Moreover, paediatricians answer your queries about your child’s development.

What Are the Subspecialties of Paediatrics?

Paediatric Intensive Care

Paediatric intensive care gives critical care to infants and children with acute illnesses (or conditions with a severe and sudden onset) and life-threatening diseases. This subspecialty covers the following:

  • Organ failure and transplants
  • Genetic conditions
  • Severe complications of chronic illness such as diabetes
  • Other conditions requiring emergency care


Some institutions combine the paediatric intensive care and emergency departments. The main difference is emergency care includes the patients’ transfer to the appropriate department after addressing the immediate issue.

Paediatric Mental Health

Paediatricians often collaborate with psychiatrists to attend to children’s emotional and psychosocial well-being. Paediatric mental or psychological services include:

  • Assessments for autism, neurodevelopment, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, school readiness, suicide risk and self-harm
  • Therapy for eating disorders, emotions (anxiety, depression, stress or adjustment), behavioural issues, chronic pain management and bereavement
  • Psychosocial support for ill or injured children and those about to undergo surgery or hospital treatment

Paediatric Emergency Medicine

This subspecialty deals with resuscitating, stabilising and treating critically ill and injured children. The most common paediatric emergencies include:

  • Respiratory distress (breathing problems)
  • Trauma (injury due to a fall, accident, or during a sports activity)
  • Digestive issues (vomiting, diarrhoea)
  • Environmental injuries (such as anaphylaxis or life-threatening allergic reaction, burns, poisoning, drowning, hypothermia, dehydration, heatstroke, smoke inhalation)
  • Severe infection (such as septic shock)
  • Seizures

Paediatric Infectious Diseases

The diagnosis, treatment and management of sickness resulting from bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infection fall under paediatric infectious diseases. This subspecialty covers:

  • Bone and joint infections
  • Pneumonia
  • Tuberculosis
  • Tropical infections (such as dengue)
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Human immunodeficiency virus or HIV
  • Meningitis
  • Kawasaki disease
  • Infections after injury or surgery
  • Infections due to chronic heart or lung disease or other acquired or congenital immunodeficiencies

Paediatric Neurology

Paediatric neurology covers the prevention, evaluation and treatment of disorders affecting the brain, spine and other parts of the nervous system. This subspecialty also includes management techniques for these disorders’ behavioural and cognitive effects. These conditions include:

  • Epilepsy
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other learning and behavioural disorders
  • Developmental delay
  • Movement disorders (Tourette syndrome)
  • Brain and spinal injury, tumours and infections
  • Neurometabolic disorders
  • Neuromuscular disorders
  • Neurodegenerative disorders
  • Mitochondrial disorders
  • Acute non-traumatic encephalopathy

Paediatric Oncology

Paediatric oncology specialises in child cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management. Blood disorders and conditions requiring stem cell transplant as a cure also belong to this medical subspecialty.

  • Leukaemia
  • Lymphomas
  • Myelodysplastic syndrome
  • Soft tissue sarcoma
  • Neuroblastoma
  • Brain and spinal cord tumours
  • Bone cancers
  • Wilm’s tumour (kidney cancer)
  • Retinoblastoma

Paediatric Palliative Medicine

Paediatric palliative medicine provides holistic care to reduce the suffering of children and adolescents facing life-limiting conditions. Paediatricians under this medical subspecialty guide patients and their families about:

  • Symptom management
  • Advanced care planning (deciding where to get palliative care and what should be the highest level of care to pursue)
  • Ethical decisions related to hydration and nutrition
  • End-of-life and bereavement care

When Should You See a Paediatrician?

Start searching for a paediatrician three months before your child’s birth. You must schedule your first paediatrician’s visit 48 to 72 hours after you deliver your baby. Then wait until your child turns two to four weeks old before setting your second appointment.

Appointments with your paediatrician Singapore will be every few months during your child’s first and second years. Your baby will receive vaccinations during this period. To check for any birth defects and overall wellness, your doctor will also check your child’s vision, hearing, heart and lungs.

Also, contact your paediatrician when your baby runs a high fever (above 38 degrees Celsius or higher when below three months old) or experiences vomiting, diarrhoea, respiratory problems or rashes.

Paediatricians Help Ensure Your Child's Development Is on Track

Find the right paediatrician to help you care for your child’s health needs. Check out our network of paediatrics Singapore practitioners today.

Resources

  • https://www.sutterhealth.org/services/pediatric
  • https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/Services/Pediatric-and-Adolescent-Medicine
  • https://www.mountelizabeth.com.sg/specialties/paediatrics/overview
  • https://medicine.utah.edu/students/professional-development/resources/medical-specialties/pediatrics
  • https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/135/4/780/33636/Definition-of-a-Pediatrician?autologincheck=redirected?nfToken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
  • https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-does-a-pediatrician-do-2633250
  • https://www.kidsfirstraleigh.com/pediatric-services/
  • https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Pediatrics.aspx
  • https://www.webmd.com/baby/pediatricians-role-twins
  • https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21716-what-is-a-pediatrician
  • https://www.webmd.com/baby/pediatricians-role-twins
  • https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-does-a-pediatrician-do-2633250
  • https://raisingchildren.net.au/guides/a-z-health-reference/paediatrician
  • https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/what-do-paediatricians-do
  • https://medicine.iu.edu/blogs/pediatrics/what-is-the-pediatric-intensive-care-unit-an-introduction (genetic conditions)
  • https://www.seattlechildrens.org/clinics/picu/; https://www.nuh.com.sg/our-services/Specialties/Paediatrics/Pages/Paediatric-Critical-Care.aspx (transplants)
  • https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/picu.html (near drowning and diabetes complications)
  • https://ssmc.ae/doctors-specialities/pediatric-intensive-critical-care-picu/
  • https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/paediatric-intensive-care-medicine-sub-specialty
  • https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/pediatric-critical-care/introduction
  • https://www.webmd.com/children/know-about-childs-stay-in-pediatric-intensive-care-unit
  • https://www.childrensomaha.org/department/pediatric-intensive-care-unit-picu/

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