Road to Health Booklet: what every South African parent must know
The green booklet the clinic hands you at birth is the single most important health document your child will own before school. Here is how to read it, use it, and back it up.
What the booklet records
- Birth record, birth weight, length, head circumference, delivery details and any complications.
- Immunisation pages, every EPI-SA vaccine, the date given and the batch number. See the full baby vaccination schedule in South Africa.
- Growth charts, weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-length plotted at each visit.
- Vitamin A and deworming, six-monthly doses from six months.
- Developmental milestones, a tick-list of what your child should be doing by each age.
- Feeding and danger signs, the parent-facing pages most people never read, and the most useful.
How to read the growth chart properly
Parents panic about a single low dot. Nurses look at the line. A child tracking steadily along the third percentile is usually fine; a child dropping from the fiftieth to the fifteenth over two visits needs attention. Ask the nurse to show you the direction of the curve, not just the number on the scale, and take a photo of the page each visit.
Keep a digital backup
Booklets get lost, water-damaged and left at grandmother's house. Photograph the immunisation and growth pages after every clinic visit and store them somewhere you can reach from any phone. In BeasyBaby you can log each weight and vaccine dose as it happens, so the record survives even when the paper does not. You will also need the booklet when you apply for the SASSA Child Support Grant application.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Road to Health Booklet?
The Road to Health Booklet (RtHB) is the free child health record issued by the South African Department of Health at birth. It records your child's birth details, growth, immunisations, vitamin A and deworming doses, developmental milestones and any clinic visits until age five.
Where do I get a Road to Health Booklet?
It is issued free at the hospital or clinic where your baby is born. If you gave birth outside a facility, take your baby to the nearest public clinic and they will open one for you at no cost.
What do I do if I lose the Road to Health Booklet?
Go to your nearest public clinic with your child and your ID. The clinic can issue a replacement booklet and transfer the records they hold. Anything the clinic cannot recover is lost, which is why a photo or digital backup of each page matters.
How do I read the growth chart?
Each visit the nurse plots weight-for-age, length/height-for-age and weight-for-length. What matters is the direction of the line, not a single dot: a line tracking steadily along a curve is healthy, while a flattening or falling line is the signal to ask questions.
Do I still need the booklet if I use a private paediatrician?
Yes. Bring the same booklet to every visit, public or private, so immunisation doses are never duplicated or missed. Schools, creches and grant applications also frequently ask for it.
Back up your booklet in BeasyBaby
Free growth tracking, the full EPI-SA vaccine schedule with reminders, and a private family Village, built for South African parents.
Open BeasyBabyEducational content only, not medical advice. Source: National Department of Health, Road to Health Booklet (RtHB).
Related guides for South African parents
- Baby vaccination schedule in South Africa (EPI + private)
Every immunisation from birth to 12 years, the free EPI-SA schedule plus optional private vaccines.
- Child Support Grant: how to apply in South Africa
Who qualifies, the means test, the exact document checklist, and what to do if you are rejected.
- Baby names in South Africa and what they mean
Popular names across isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho, Setswana, Xitsonga and Afrikaans, with meanings.
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