past medical history

Last reviewed 01/2018

Past medical history in a paediatric clerking should include:

  • pregnancy and birth - birth place, birth weight, gestation, delivery.
  • problems in the neonatal period - was there any anxiety about the baby; did the baby spend time in the neonatal unit; did he or she go home from hospital with the mother at the normal time?
  • nutrition - breast or bottle fed; volume and frequency
  • development - taking this history develops with experience, but the student should begin by thinking of a few things that the child ought to be able to do at their age, and asking about them.
  • past illnesses - measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox pertussis.
  • immunizations - diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, Hib, BCG, measles, mumps, rubella
  • previous hospital admissions