Here in NZ, the young - babies and kids are quite very well taken cared of. Aside from the free maternity and medical care, there's also free care given to the young and the mothers in the form of the Plunket. This is a community where mothers can meet up for friendship, share experiences, help each other and the kids to play with each other and just hang-out. There are no fees and attendance isn't required. You can visit the Plunket center as often as you like and stay there for the whole day or just a few hours.
There's a qualified Plunket nurse that does regular checks for the babies, hands-out informations to parents and provides advices and any other help that mothers or kids might need.
The Plunket center also has a lot of toys that the kids can play with. They've got slides, swings, rides, puzzles, and many others. It's basically just another visit to the park sort-of.
The growth of the child is closely monitored especially his medical history. Here in NZ, every child born here are given a "Well Child" book for this purpose. Parents can also post pictures and record significant milestones as he grows. It also contains a comprehensive record of his immunizations, weight and height.
A GP or General Practitioner is elected early on in order to handle all the medical checks and issues that the child might have as he grows. All regular visits and prescribed medicines are free too. The medicines are picked-up from what they call here "Chemist" and the medicine bottle even contains the baby's name, prescribed dosage, expiry date and the doctor's name.
Check out more information from these sites:
http://www.kidshealth.org.nz/
You all stay well.
