Thousands of babies in Waterford are missing their developmental health checks

Thousands of babies across Waterford have been missing key developmental check ups in the past five years. 

Around 7,000 babies nationally have not gotten their 9-11 month check up in the past year, according to figures from the HSE released to Newstalk. 

In Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, and South Tipperary, just 68.9% of babies had their developmental checks on time.

Of 27,818 infants in the area needing their checks in the past five years, 8,644 of them did not get them on time.

In the same time frame nationally, 70,000 babies missed the check.

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2020 saw the lowest rate of checks, with just over 43% of babies being checked that year. 

That number steadily increased over the following years, jumping to almost 52% in 2021 and then over 79% in 2022.

2023 saw the highest number of developmental checks in the region at just over 85%.

That number then dropped again last year, with 82% of children being seen for their check up. 

The assessment makes sure a child is reaching crucial milestones in their physical, social, and behavioural development.

Your public health nurse or doctor will check your baby's eyes, ears, limbs, breathing, and fontanelle (soft spot) to ensure they are physically reaching the necessary milestones.

They will also check for social behaviours such as alertness and smiling.

Posture and movement will also be looked at to see if your baby can hold themselves up while sitting or if they can crawl. 

Speech will also be monitored to see if your baby is babbling and copying different sounds.