When your baby was born, you received the free "yellow child examination booklet". It is also known colloquially as the "U booklet" or "yellow booklet". It records all the results of all your child's check-ups (U1 to U9). This means that from the first hour of life (U1) to the age of 5 (U9), your child's health development is fully documented in the Yellow Booklet - provided that you attend every check-up with your child. You should definitely do this, because preventive care is important for your child!
If your baby is born in a maternity clinic, the 74-page booklet will be given to you there. If you give birth at home or in a birthing centre, you will receive it from your midwife.
Since January 2022, the child examination booklet can also be used in electronic form. To do this, you can have your child's examination results stored digitally as part of the electronic patient file (ePA) via the ePA app of the health insurance company where your child is insured. If you would like to use the electronic form, you would need to contact the relevant health insurance provider. In terms of content, the electronic version is identical to the print version.
For parents who are not (sufficiently) proficient in German, the child examination booklet (as well as the Maternity passport) now also available in English as a PDF. However, the German edition is still considered the "official document" in Germany.
What is the purpose of the Yellow Booklet?
According to the "Guidelines for the early detection of illnesses in children" issued by the Joint Federal Committee (GBA), the content, timing and structure of preventive check-ups are specified. The aim is to keep a medical eye on a child's age-appropriate development and health. In this way, any developmental delays, abnormalities or health problems can be recognised at an early stage and treated accordingly. Especially in the first few years of life, your child goes through rapid developmental phases!
The paediatric check-up booklet contains several pages for each check-up, on which the relevant data and results are entered. This provides a very good overview of how the child is currently developing. Parents can also refuse certain examinations, such as the cystic fibrosis screening. This is then also noted accordingly.
At the back of the yellow booklet you will find diagrams with so-called percentile curves on some pages, in which Your child's height and weightthe Head circumference and the body mass index - separately for girls and boys respectively. These values can be used by doctors to assess where the child is in their development compared to other children of the same age.
The Yellow Booklet also contains information for parents. For each individual screening appointment, a page is reserved for "Parental information on screening from XX to XX month of life". This tells you when your child's next check-up is due and what they will probably already be able to do at this time (e.g. for U6 "Your child can probably already crawl or crawl and pull themselves up on furniture"). You can also read on the parents' pages what will be examined, tested and discussed with you at the respective screening. You can also find out which questions the doctor can ask you to prepare for.
The following page in the Yellow Booklet offers you space for your own notes. So if you notice something about your child, if you have any questions or would like to discuss something with the paediatrician, you can make a note here. This way, nothing gets lost and nothing is forgotten!
Where do I have to show the Yellow Booklet?
To get straight to the point: You must Do not show anyone the examination booklet! As it contains sensitive data and confidential information about your child, it is entirely up to you to decide who you allow to look at it and who you do not.
The participant card: For example, parents must provide proof of a medical immunisation consultation for their child at the daycare centre they wish their child to attend. This is stipulated by the Infection Protection Act. From U3 to U9, the paediatrician advises on the upcoming vaccinations at the respective preventive appointments and checks the child's vaccination status. It follows from this: Anyone who proves that they have regularly attended the U examinations with their child also proves that the prescribed vaccination counselling has taken place. However, to ensure that confidentiality is not circumvented, the Yellow Booklet contains a detachable "participation card". This simply shows the date, practice stamp and signature of the check-ups completed to date. Examination results or medical information about the child are not listed.
If necessary, parents can use this participant card to prove to the daycare centre, authorities or youth welfare office that they have been to the U-examinations with their child. These institutions are not allowed to request further information from the yellow booklet.
Parents who use the electronic examination booklet can download or print out such a participant card via the health insurance company's ePA app.
If the examination booklet or participation card is lost, the maternity clinic, midwife or paediatric practice providing care can issue a replacement. The results of previous examinations can then be transferred via the data stored in the computer and entered in the replacement booklet.
Where are the other check-ups documented?
The U9 takes place between the 60th and 64th month of your child's life, i.e. at the age of five. After this, your child will have a long break until the next "regular" screening appointment: the J1, by which time your child will be between 12 and 14 years old. There is a separate documentation form for this examination.
As the gap between the U9 and J1 is very large and a new gap opens up after the J1, the Association of Paediatricians and Adolescent Doctors also recommends the following
- a U10 aged 7 to 8 years,
- one U 11 aged 9 to 10 years
- and a J2 aged 16 to 17.
Your paediatrician's practice will give you a new free check-up booklet, which is now green. The results of these voluntary check-ups are documented in this booklet. Most statutory health insurance companies will cover the costs of these three additional check-ups for your child.
2 responses