New road to health booklet - Side by side on the road to health

Your baby’s development, growth and health is important to us.  

From the moment your baby is conceived to when he or she is born, good health care depends on the daily care and protection you and your family provide to your baby.

According to the South African Health Department, your child needs 5 things to thrive:

• enough healthy food,
• plenty of love from their parents such as playing and talking,
• protection from disease and injury,
• health care when they are ill, and
• extra care and support if they need it.

The new Road to Health book is designed to keep track of all your baby’s healthcare needs and is free for all babies born in South Africa since November 2018 at public or private health care facilities. It contains everything you need to know to help your child thrive and can be used to keep record of your child’s growth and development milestones.

Give your child the best start in life

To give your child the best start in life, you can use the important tips and information in your Road to Health book. In the new book, you can find information about how to feed your baby, what symptoms and warning signs you should look out for and when they need to visit the clinic for their next immunisation.

There’s even a place where you can keep track of your baby’s growth. 

Although the Road to Health book is given to parents after the birth of their child at the health facility, if you’ve opted for a home birth, this book will be provided to you the first time a health worker sees the baby.

To ensure that your baby receives the right care at the right time, remember to take the booklet with to every clinic visit so that doctors and nurses can stay updated with your baby’s medical history.

Keep a record of your child’s growth and development

First time parents can find all the advice they’ll need on how to raise a happy, healthy child in the new Road to Health book while keeping a record of the child’s growth and development.

It’s important to keep your book in a safe place and take it with you every time that your child visits a clinic, hospital, doctor or another health facility. Although information from this book may be requested by your child’s preschool or school, it should always be kept in your care.

If you’re still making use of the older Road to Health book, don’t throw it away! You’ll still need to use it because it contains your child’s health record.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s health, growth and development, you can ask the health worker about it at your next visit.