What is the U3 examination?
The U3 examination is one of twelve preventive examinations for children. It is carried out between the 3rd and 8th week of life. The costs are covered by health insurance. During the U3 examination, the doctor checks whether the child has developed normally in the first few weeks after birth. The baby should also receive its first vaccination at this appointment.
What is done at the U3?
In many cases, the U3 examination is the first time that the pediatrician sees the baby. At this appointment, the paediatrician first obtains an overview of the child’s general state of health by means of various examinations. This is followed by the vaccination.
Examinations
The doctor determines the baby’s height and weight, listens to the heart, lungs and bowel sounds. He palpates the abdominal wall and examines the navel.
He checks whether the child is already responding to speech or movement and how it reacts to loud noises and bright light. Playful tests are used to check the baby’s interaction, for example whether it follows an object with its eyes.
The doctor also tests innate reflexes such as the grasping and sucking reflex. They get an idea of the baby’s motor skills, such as whether it can hold its head in a floating prone position for just a few seconds. Or whether it can already open its hands from time to time.
U3: Vaccination
The pediatrician informs the parents about the first vaccinations at the U3 examination: From the age of six weeks, the vaccination against rotavirus can be given in accordance with the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO). The baby does not receive an injection for this, as it is an oral vaccination. For the second month of life, doctors recommend vaccinations against:
- diphtheria
- tetanus
- Whooping cough (pertussis)
- Haemophilus influenzae type b (causative agent of epiglottitis, among other things)
- Poliomyelitis (polio)
- Hepatitis B
These can now be given as a combined vaccination in a syringe in the thigh, which is of course gentler on the child. There is also a further vaccination against pneumococci.
As with the U1 and U2 examinations, the child also receives vitamin K drops to strengthen the coagulation function and prevent bleeding.
What is the significance of the U3 examination?
If a malformation of the hip (congenital hip dysplasia) is detected during the U3 examination, this can often be successfully treated with wide swaddling or special spreader pants. Consequential damage is usually not to be expected.