Dr. Sandra Charles-Baptiste

Dr. Sandra Charles-Baptiste is a highly regarded paediatrician at Port of Spain General Hospital, the historic public hospital serving the capital and surrounding districts of Trinidad and Tobago. With 16 years of specialist experience in paediatrics, Dr. Charles-Baptiste has dedicated her career to the health and development of children from infancy through adolescence. She is well-known for her compassionate approach and her ability to put both children and anxious parents at ease during consultations. Her clinical interests span neonatal medicine, acute childhood illness, sickle cell disease — a condition with notable prevalence in the Caribbean — and developmental assessment. She is a committed advocate for childhood vaccination and preventive health programmes, and has been involved in national immunisation outreach initiatives across Trinidad.

Dr. Charles-Baptiste completed her medical degree and went on to pursue postgraduate paediatric training, achieving the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians with a paediatric designation (MRCP Paediatrics). Her training included rotations in neonatal intensive care, paediatric acute medicine, and developmental paediatrics. She has engaged in ongoing professional development through the Caribbean Paediatric Association and has participated in regional training workshops on sickle cell management, vaccine-preventable diseases, and childhood nutrition. Her practice integrates Caribbean epidemiological data into everyday clinical decision-making.

Dr. Charles-Baptiste's clinical scope includes the management of common and complex paediatric conditions seen across the Caribbean. She conducts comprehensive well-child assessments from the newborn period through adolescence, including growth monitoring, developmental milestone screening, and vision and hearing checks. She administers and oversees structured vaccination programmes in line with national and WHO schedules. In the acute care setting, she manages respiratory illnesses including childhood asthma, febrile illnesses, gastroenteritis, and pneumonia. She provides dedicated follow-up care for children with sickle cell disease, including crisis prevention education, hydroxyurea counselling, and coordination with haematology. Her neonatal care experience includes the assessment and management of neonatal jaundice, feeding difficulties, and neonatal sepsis. She also conducts developmental assessments for children presenting with speech delay, motor delays, and behavioural concerns, with appropriate referrals to allied health professionals.

Dr. Charles-Baptiste has contributed to regional efforts to document and reduce the burden of childhood illness in Trinidad and Tobago. She has presented at Caribbean Paediatric Association conferences on topics including sickle cell disease management in the community setting and improving vaccination uptake in underserved populations. She has also been involved in local audits of childhood malnutrition and stunting, contributing data that informs public health nutrition programmes in Trinidad and Tobago.

Port of Spain General Hospital provides specialist paediatric services to families across Trinidad and the wider Caribbean. Dr. Charles-Baptiste is available to consult on complex paediatric cases referred from other Caribbean islands, particularly for conditions such as sickle cell disease, complex developmental presentations, and infectious diseases endemic to the region. Video consultations are available for follow-up care and for families seeking guidance ahead of travel to Trinidad for in-person assessment. All consultations are conducted in English.

Dr. Charles-Baptiste has been recognised within the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association for her service to child health. She has played an active role in community outreach, including vaccination drives and nutrition education programmes in rural communities across Trinidad. Her commitment to paediatric preventive care has made her a trusted voice in public discussions on childhood health, and she has appeared in local media on topics such as vaccine hesitancy and the management of sickle cell disease in the Caribbean context.