After your baby is born and has been discharged from hospital, most childhood medical care in Ireland is undertaken by an ordinary family doctor rather than by a paediatrician. If more specialist paediatric care is required, your GP will refer your child to a qualified paediatrician. You are not obliged to see the paediatrician in your maternity hospital. Depending on your health insurance package, a percentage of the cost of GP and consultant visits may be covered.

Children are vaccinated against tuberculosis at birth. At two months old, they receive the first dose of the ‘5 in 1’ vaccination against diphtheria, polio, whooping cough, tetanus and HiB, and also a separate meningitis C vaccine. The MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine is given between 12 and 15 months after birth, and if a child has not received the HiB vaccine at an earlier age, it will be administered then. It is not possible to receive the MMR vaccine as three separate injections in Ireland or in the UK.

Booster vaccines are available free of charge under the School Booster Programme, and they are usually administered by public health nurses in schools. Vaccines are also made available through schools for children who have not already received them, so do not worry if your child has missed vaccinations as a result of moving abroad.

The chickenpox vaccine is not given in Ireland, although most children can expect to come into contact with the disease. Many paediatricians advise that contracting the disease in childhood is less dangerous than risking contracting the adult version later in life. It is not generally a serious condition for a child, although if your child is very young or has a weak immune system, you should contact your GP in the event of exposure. If symptoms persist or are unusually severe, you should seek help. Other common childhood infections such as strep throat can be treated with antibiotics.

In general, regular exercise and a good diet with plenty of Vitamin C can help to boost the immune system of a healthy child.