Dr. Mohamed Anas Barakat, Consultant Pediatrician PICS: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula
A hospital visit can be stressful, especially for children and their families. The team at the Department of Pediatrics, Al-Ahli Hospital is specially trained to care for young patients and help them understand what will be happening during their visit and ensure their time with us will be as stress free as possible.
The Department of Pediatrics at Al-Ahli Hospital offers comprehensive childcare from birth until age 15 years in a friendly and safe environment. The team led by Dr. Mohamed Anas Barakat, a Consultant Pediatrician with over 25 year experience in the field and accompanying team of dedicated doctors and nurses are well aware that kids are not small adults and thus need special environment and care.
The well-equipped modern and child friendly pediatric clinics offer a soothing and comfortable environment for treatment of a variety of acute and chronic illnesses of infancy, childhood and adolescence.
“The children are given vaccinations, assessed for their growth and development, and screened for any vision or hearing problems in addition to the provision of age-appropriate preventive/anticipatory guidance regarding nutrition, lifestyle and health maintenance issues,” said Dr. Anas Barakat.
According to Dr. Anas the Department of Pediatrics at Al-Ahli Hospital has also setup a provision of tele consultation during COVID-19 pandemic which provides parents an opportunity to discuss any concerns about their children from the comfort of their homes without physically visiting the hospital unless requested otherwise by the treating pediatrician.
Pediatric services at Al-Ahli Hospital include Dental, ENT, Orthopedic and other specialties.
Conditions treated at our department include:
- Common infectious, endocrine, urinary and gastrointestinal diseases of infancy, childhood and adolescence
- Asthma and other respiratory diseases
- Skin conditions like eczema, infections and allergic rashes
- Malnutrition, failure to thrive, obesity, eating disorders
- bed-wetting
- chronic constipation and diarrhea,
- problems of growth and development of infants, toddlers, children and adolescent
- Vaccinations including travel vaccines, comprehensive health screening, complete school physical check-up including vision and hearing screening and well-baby check-up.
“If parents feel there is something that is not right with the child, it is advised to consult a pediatrician early, it’s not appropriate to delay,” he said.
Ancillary services provided at Al Ahli hospital for department of Pediatrics include:
- Laboratory, clinical imaging, pharmacy services, physical and speech therapy, all at same location,” said Dr. Anas Barakat.
The Newborn Nursery and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Al-Ahli Hospital are equipped and staffed by the most experienced and highly qualified neonatologists and nurses who provide care to meet the needs of healthy and sick or premature newborn babies.
“Newborn babies who need intensive medical care are often put in NICU. The NICU has advanced technology and trained healthcare professionals to provide special care for the sick and premature babies. NICU has a stepdown area for babies who are not as sick but do need specialized nursing care,” said Dr. Anas Barakat.
“The nurses and doctors communicate extensively with parents who are involved in the decision making at each and every step in their babies’ care,” he added.
The Pediatric Emergency room at Al-Ahli Hospital provides round-the-clock service to sick children seven days a week.
“Pediatric emergency is staffed with qualified and caring nurses and doctors who are well trained to provide the best quality care in emergency conditions,” said Dr. Anas Barakat.
Pediatric in-service care at Al-Ahli Hospital is delivered in specially-designed pediatric and adolescent rooms that meet the needs of every age and gender. Highly qualified staff always assures that the tender care provided to young in-house guests will be memorable.
According to health experts, well-child visits are recommended from infancy through adolescence.
These checks are important not only to establish children’s current state of wellness, but also to make sure they are up-to-date on vaccines and that they are hitting age-appropriate growth, development and behavior milestones.
It is recommended that parents make a list to take with them to each well-check visit addressing concerns they might have about their child’s growth, eating habits, learning problems, sleeping habits and social behaviors etc...
Importance of each vaccine administered to the child is discussed with the parents and any concerns or questions about Childhood immunizations are addressed before administering the vaccine.
Making sure children are up-to-date with immunizations is the best way to protect your family, school and community from outbreaks of unnecessary illnesses and deaths.
How often you see a pediatrician for your children depends on the child’s health and age. Generally speaking, a healthy child who is at least two years old and above will need to see their doctor at least once a year for a check-up. Younger children will need to go more often. Newborn babies are fragile, and their immune system is not fully developed. There are also a number of birth defects that may not be readily apparent when the child is born. Frequent visits to the pediatrician will give the doctor many opportunities to examine the child and catch potential problems early. Similarly, they allow the pediatrician to administer the needed inoculations.
