Preterm Infant Follow-up Clinic

Opening hours and contact information

Visiting address

Tyks Lighthouse Hospital

Savitehtaankatu 5

Turku

3nd floor, section K, (A-lifts).

Postal address

PO Box 52

20521 Turku

Preterm Infant Follow-up Clinic

Telephone

02 313 1497

Mo–Fr 11:30–12:30

Office hours

Mo–Th 8:00–16:00

Oxygen Follow-up Clinic

Telephone

02 313 0454

Tu 11:30–12:30

Th 11:30–12:30

Office hours

We 13:00–15:00

Nurse-led Follow-up Clinic

Telephone

02 313 1497

Mo–Fr 11:30–12:30

Office hours

Ppen Monday to Thursday mornings

In our ex-preterm follow-up clinic, we check growth and development post discharge.

The purpose is to ensure all is well with your baby, and to make sure that the parents are also doing OK. Infants born before 32 weeks gestation, or with a birth weight less than 1500g, are assessed until the age of two years. Infants born between 32 and 34 weeks gestation are seen until they are ready to walk. Infants born after 34 weeks are assessed on an individual basis.

Our team includes a paediatrician, a physiotherapist and a registered nurse. We asses your child's growth, development, health, nutrition and sleeping as well as your well-being. Different professionals may also be consulted depending on whether there is a problem we need extra help with.

The length of your visit can vary from 45 minutes to 60 minutes. This may include the need for further tests, like an ultrasound or a blood test. However, nothing will be done without discussing it first with you.

NOTE! If the child has contracted chickenpox or another contagious disease, contact the nurse. You should not come to receptions as contagious.

Preterm infants born before 32 gestational weeks will visit our clinic monthly after discharge. Approximately at the time of their calculated due date your baby will have a Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) of the brain, which is a routine investigation. The more accurate BAEP hearing test takes place at the corrected age of 1 month. If there is any need for a blood test, samples will be taken during this visit. Speech development is assessed in more detail at the one-year follow-up visit. A questionnaire about your child’s hearing will be sent to you before the appointment. At the two-year follow-up visit, your child will undergo neuropsychological assessment.

Preterm infants born after 32 gestational weeks will be seen one or 2 months post their due date, and follow up continues until they are one year of age.

Doctor in charge Helena Lapinleimu
Responsible nurses Maarit Lehtinen and Sanna Nurmilehto
Responsible physiotherapist Katriina Saarinen

Infants discharged with home oxygen visit the special oxygen follow up clinic. In the beginning, these visits can be quite frequent. Each time there is a senior doctor and registered nurse present to assess your baby. A physiotherapist will also be available. During these follow-up visits, we check the growth and neurological development of your baby. We also check how effective the oxygen treatment is. Blood samples may be needed regularly. Oxygen cylinders will be maintained during visits.

Doctor in charge Kalle Korhonen
Responsible nurse Tarja Westerlund
Responsible physiotherapist Katriina Saarinen

Families can phone us between follow-up visits if there are any concerns or questions. A registered nurse will do their best to help you.

We are working in collaboration with maternity clinics. We are a part of the Tyks operational division of the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Hospitals

Tyks Lighthouse hospital

In the Lighthouse hospital we have paediatric and adolescent medicine, gynaecology and obstetrics, ear, nose and throat diseases and oral and maxillofacial diseases. You can also find some of the medical imaging functions in the Lighthouse hospital.